Hamburg Woman Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Defraud The Government

BUFFALO, N.Y.-- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Sheri L. Becirovic, 47, of Hamburg, N.Y., pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Court Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder, Jr., to conspiracy to defraud the government. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.

       Assistant U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant obtained the social security numbers of seven family members and friends. Becirovic provided those numbers, in addition to her own social security number, to a co-conspirator, Clifton Jackson, who used them to file fraudulent tax returns for the tax year 2011. The conspiracy resulted in a loss to the Internal Revenue Service of $60,961. 

       The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of  Special Agent- in-Charge Toni M. Weirauch, and the United States Postal Inspection Service under the direction of Kevin Niland, Inspector in Charge, Boston Division.