Tucson Resident Sentenced to Prison for Tax Fraud

     TUCSON, Ariz. – Today, Clariece Burden-Stelly, 33, of Tucson, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James A. Soto to a term of 21 months’ imprisonment and a 36-month term of supervised release following her incarceration, for her role in a tax fraud scheme. As part of her sentence, she was also ordered to pay over $19,000 in restitution to the U.S. Treasury.  Burden-Stelly had previously pleaded guilty to false claims and wire fraud.   

     Under the scheme, Burden-Stelly filed false federal income tax returns for tax years 2012 through 2014.  Burden-Stelly caused the filing of false federal tax returns under her name and the names and social security numbers of others to obtain fraudulent federal income tax refunds.   Burden-Stelly fraudulently used the IRS Employer Identification Numbers (EIN’s) of her former employers to report false wage and withholding information. The fraudulent tax refunds were disbursed on pre-paid cards or by check. 

     The investigation in this case was conducted by IRS-Criminal Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Jane L. Westby, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Tucson.

CASE NUMBER:            CR-18-00129                  

RELEASE NUMBER:    2018-153_Burden-Stelly

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