Skip to main content

This is archived content from the U.S. Department of Justice website. The information here may be outdated and links may no longer function. Please contact webmaster@usdoj.gov if you have any questions about the archive site.

Press Release

North Carolina Tax Preparer Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to Defraud the IRS

For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs

A North Carolina return preparer was sentenced today to 15 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the IRS.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2012 through 2016, Audrey Renetta Odom, of Durham, conspired with Karen Jones and Andrea Pasley to prepare false returns for clients. The returns fraudulently lowered the clients’ tax liabilities or inflated their refunds by claiming false education credits or dependents or by manipulating the clients’ income to qualify for larger earned income tax credits. Odom admitted that some clients were charged up to $2,000 for preparing returns. Based on an analysis of the falsely claimed education credits, the tax loss is over $1.2 million.

Jones pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the IRS on Nov. 5, 2020, and was sentenced to 22 months in prison for her role in the conspiracy. Pasley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the IRS on May 6 and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 29.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge William L. Osteen Jr. ordered Odom to serve three years of supervised release and to pay approximately $1,239,847 in restitution to the United States.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Sandra J. Hairston for the Middle District of North Carolina made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Assistant Chief Todd Ellinwood and Trial Attorney Kavitha Bondada of the Tax Division prosecuted the case.

Updated February 6, 2025
Topic
Tax
Component
Tax Division
Press Release Number: 21-694

Related Content

Press Release
Maryland Man Convicted of Failing to Pay Payroll Taxes

A federal jury convicted a Maryland man yesterday of 16 counts of failing to collect and pay over payroll taxes.

Press Release
Maryland Return Preparer Charged with Preparing False Tax Returns for Clients

A federal grand jury in Greenbelt, Maryland, returned an indictment charging a Maryland woman with preparing false tax returns for clients and failing to file her own tax returns.

Press Release
Justice Department Continues Efforts to Stop Unlawful Tax Return Preparers

The Justice Department’s Tax Division acknowledges the majority of taxpayers and tax return preparers who voluntarily meet their yearly filing obligations. The Tax Division also cautions taxpayers to choose their...