Canadian Woman Sentenced for Identity Theft

PORTLAND, Ore. - Carolyn Gallagher of Canada was sentenced today for the theft of at least 28 Forms I-9 from Urban Outfitters, where she once worked as a manager. Gallagher previously pleaded guilty to identity theft, admitting to stealing Forms I-9 from Urban Outfitters and selling them, knowing that false tax returns would be filed in the names of her victims. Gallagher appeared today before the Honorable Robert E. Jones and was sentenced to 12 months and a day in prison and ordered to forfeit $37,475—the total fraudulent refunds paid out by the Treasury based on the false tax returns in the names of her victims.

Gallagher’s co-conspirators, Jheraun Dunlap, Ernest Bagsby, Jermaine Moore, and Brandi McCall, who conspired in the preparation and filing of over 200 false tax returns, including 28 false tax returns in the names of Gallagher’s victims, were previously sentenced by the Honorable Robert E. Jones to 65 months, 51 months, 45 months, and 12 months and a day in prison.

This case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Task Force. Trial Attorneys Leslie A. Goemaat and Lori A. Hendrickson of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/tax.