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Press Release

Pasco Man Sentenced To More Than 4 Years In Prison For Tax Fraud And Identity Theft

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida

Fort Myers, FL - U.S. District Judge John Steele sentenced Keith Stewart today to 4 years and 6 months in federal prison for presenting false claims to the government and aggravated identity theft. The court also ordered Stewart to serve a five-year term of supervised release, following his prison sentence. Stewart pleaded guilty on July 11, 2012.

According to court documents, Stewart knowingly prepared and filed false income tax returns with the IRS for fraudulent tax refunds. At least one of the false filings resulted in a payment to him in the amount of $8,000, to which he was not entitled. Stewart also used various means of identification belonging to other people in order to obtain debit cards in their names. At the time of his arrest, he possessed the names and personal information of at least 100 individuals.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service, Lee County Sheriff's Office, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Douglas Molloy.

Updated January 26, 2015