Jury Finds Milwaukee Woman Guilty of False Tax Returns

Gregory J. Haanstad, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on June 30, 2017, a jury found Trulunda Stenson (age: 35) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, guilty following a trial before United States District Judge Pamela Pepper in federal court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The jury convicted Stenson on each of the following 34 counts charged in the indictment: (1) ten counts of filing false tax refund claims, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 287; (2) eleven counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, and (3) eleven counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A.

As proven at trial, beginning in January 2011, Stenson pursued a scheme to file false income tax returns that claimed refund payments from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Stenson and others gathered individuals’ social security numbers and other personal information. Stenson then prepared federal income tax returns that fraudulently claimed wages and federal tax-withholding amounts from several employers, even though in many cases, those employers had not actually paid wages or withheld taxes for the individuals. Stenson submitted the returns electronically to the IRS, signing the returns for individuals, many of whom she had never met. Stenson filed over 80 fraudulent tax returns seeking more than $300,000 in tax refund payments. In addition, the jury also found Stenson guilty of filing fraudulent 2011 and 2012 income tax returns in her own name.

As a result of these convictions, Stenson faces a mandatory minimum penalty of two years in prison, with the maximum potential penalty of twenty years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release. A sentencing date has not been set.

This case resulted from an investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Jacobs and Matthew Krueger.

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For Additional Information Contact:

Public Information Officer Dean Puschnig 414-297-1700