Three metro Atlanta residents were sentenced to federal prison for conspiring to use stolen identities to steal more than $800,000 by filing for bogus tax refunds, authorities said Friday.
“Phony refund schemes that use stolen identities hurt the people whose names and personal information were illegally used, and honest taxpayers throughout the country who foot the bill for the fraud,” acting U.S. Attorney John Horn said in a news release.
According to the authorities, this is how the scheme worked: Rodney Henry filed the fraudulent federal tax returns, seeking more than $1.9 million in refunds. Tony Lamar Watkins retrieved checks from mailboxes, cashed them after forging signatures and withdrew refunds from debit cards. Phyllis Grant gave Henry some of the stolen identities used for the returns, and opened mailboxes for the plot in Mableton and East Point.
Henry, 43, of Atlanta, was sentenced to seven years, 10 months in prison and was ordered to pay more than $895,000 in restitution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Friday. He pleaded guilty to charges that included aggravated identity theft in May 2014.
Watkins, 49, of College Park, received a four-year, seven-month prison sentence and must pay almost $825,000 in restitution. He also pleaded guilty in the case in May 2014.
Grant, 52, of Decatur, was convicted by a jury in March of this year. She was sentenced to one year, two months in prison and ordered to pay $770,000 in restitution.
All three prison terms will be followed by three years of supervised release.
“These sentences should serve as a strong message that there are consequences for stealing and using other individuals’ personal identifying information,” said Veronica F. Hyman-Pillot, Special Agent in Charge.
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