Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Tax Offenses

BOSTON – A Florida man pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Springfield to tax offenses. 

Cory Kizer, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and eight counts of theft of public money. U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni scheduled sentencing for Oct. 6, 2021. 

Kizer admitted to obtaining personal identifying information for the purpose of filing false federal tax returns and obtaining unwarranted tax refunds. The tax returns contained false addresses, wages and salaries, employers, dependents, business and loss information. The false returns generated a total of over $550,000 of unwarranted tax refunds.

The charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of theft of public money provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell and Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alex J. Grant and Catherine Curley of Mendell’s Springfield Branch Office are prosecuting the case.