California Man Sentenced for Identity Theft, Conspiracy as Part of Scheme to File False Income Tax Returns

Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced today that a California man was sentenced for his scheme to use illegally obtained personal identity information of others to prepare false W-2’s and then file false individual income tax returns in order to get refunds due to others. 

Demetrick Ruffin, 43, from Los Angeles, CA, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess to serve 95 months (just under 8 years) in prison, followed by a three-year term of supervised release.  As a condition of his supervised release, Ruffin is prohibited from accessing, by any means, the internet.  A later hearing will determine the amount of restitution to be paid by Ruffin to the victims.  Ruffin previously pleaded guilty on April 12, 2017, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

According to court documents, Ruffin conspired with others to obtain identity information, such as names, dates of birth, and social security numbers, which were then used to prepare false IRS W-2 Forms that contained fabricated wage and withholding amounts.  The co-conspirators then took the identity information and falsified documents to tax return preparation services in Anchorage, Eagle River, and Palmer, Alaska, as well as in Los Angeles and Orange County, California, to have tax returns prepared and electronically submitted to the IRS.

The false returns requested refunds totaling between $1,400 and $8,600.  In some instances, Ruffin and his co-conspirators used the stolen identity information to claim that the “taxpayers” had dependent children that they did not, in fact, have.  By claiming additional dependents, the co-conspirators were able to increase the amount of refunds that the returns generated.  In many cases, the defendants applied for refund anticipation loans and had the fraudulently obtained tax refunds loaded onto stored value cards allowing them instant access to the money even if the IRS later rejected the falsely filed returns. 

To date, the following co-conspirators have been sentenced as part of this case:

• Jameane Bolton-Williams, of Los Angeles, CA, was previously sentenced to 82 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $91,927.65;
• Joe Douglas, of Los Angeles, CA, was previously sentenced to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $43,043.55;
• Lucille Stansberry, of Los Angeles, CA, was previously sentenced to 36 months and one day in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $48,619.95. 

In imposing the sentence Judge Burgess noted that because of the seriousness of the offenses and the need for deterrence of others, the sentence was at the top of the Sentencing Guideline range.  Most importantly Judge Burgess stated, the public needed to be protected because Ruffin had committed part of his crimes while incarcerated in Los Angeles, “undeterred even by jail bars.”  Because of the rampant increase in stolen identity tax refund fraud via the internet, Judge Burgess ordered Ruffin to have no access to the internet while on court supervision after serving his sentence.          

“The sentence handed down today recognizes the arrogance of Mr. Ruffin’s conduct,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Brian Payne of IRS Criminal Investigation.  “Mr. Ruffin demonstrated a brazen disregard of the United States tax system and caused immeasurable damage to his victims.  Together with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, IRS Criminal Investigation will continue to identify and investigate those who defraud the American taxpayers by stealing identities and filing false tax returns.”

U.S. Attorney Schroder commends the IRS Criminal Investigation for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of this case.