OAKLAND - Brandon Jones was sentenced today to 36 months in prison, and ordered to pay $109,394.79 in restitution for conspiracy to file false claims, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Special Agent in Charge Kareem Carter. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Jeffrey S. White, U.S. District Court Judge,
Jones, 44, formerly of Hayward, Calif., pleaded guilty to the charge on June 12, 2019. According to the plea agreement, Jones admitted he conspired to file 94 fraudulent tax returns, each of which sought payment of a tax refund from the IRS. Jones admitted that to file the false returns, he obtained personal identifying information from individuals who were transient, homeless or incarcerated with him. In 2011, Jones was incarcerated at Santa Rita jail and in 2012, Jones was incarcerated at California State Hospital Prison in Patton, Calif.
A federal grand jury indicted Jones on Jan. 19, 2017, charging him with conspiracy to file false claims, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 286; filing false claims, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 287; theft of government property, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 641; and aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A. Jones pleaded guilty to the conspiracy count and the remaining counts were dismissed at sentencing.
In addition to the prison term, Judge White also sentenced the defendant to a three-year period of supervised release. The defendant was remanded to federal custody on April 21, 2017, and will remain in custody to serve the remainder of his sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cynthia Stier and Jose Olivera are prosecuting the case. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the IRS-CI.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
