A former Navy petty officer from Atlanta was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison for stealing the identities of recruits to file fraudulent tax returns.
Kevon Kerr, 36, will also serve 3 years of supervised release and pay $9,857 in restitution, federal authorities said.
“Kerr exploited his position in the Navy for his own selfish ends," U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said. "In stealing the identities of fellow sailors from their personnel files, he damaged the mutual trust and peace of mind of service members deployed around the world in defense of their country. ...”
Kerr was in charge of personnel files at a processing center for new and prospective recruits at Fort Gillem in Forest Park, Yates said.
Kerr photocopied recruits' drivers licenses and Social Security cards and forwarded them to an accomplice, Tyrone Boyd, 33, of Decatur, who served with Kerr in the Navy, Yates said. Boyd and Lawanda Mitchell, 31, of Atlanta then provided the stolen identities to Ashuana Turner, 33, of Riverdale, who filed fraudulent state and federal tax returns, she said.
A search of Turner's house turned up the stolen Navy identities and other stolen identities that were used to file hundreds of fraudulent tax returns, Yates said.
Kerr, Boyd, Mitchell and Turner were indicted in June 2010 on 42 counts of identity theft.
Kerr and Boyd pleaded guilty to one count of theft of public money and one count of aggravated identity theft. Boyd was sentenced in February 2011 to 2 years, 9 months in prison and 3 years of supervised released and ordered to pay $9,857 in restitution.
Turner pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal identification documents of U.S. military service members. She was sentenced to 3 years, 6 months in custody and 3 years of supervised custody and was ordered to pay $121,905 in restitution to the IRS and $73,935.38 to the Georgia Department of Revenue.
Mitchell pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. She was sentenced to 3 years, 3 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release and ordered to pay $9,857 in restitution.
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