Augusta Woman Sentenced to More Than Five Years for Making False Tax Claims and Identity Theft

Contact: F. Todd Lowell
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 945-0373

Bangor, Maine:  United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Joann C. Rittall, 45, of Augusta, Maine, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. to 63 months in prison and three years of supervised release for making false claims against the United States and identity theft. She was also ordered to pay restitution of $219,065 to the U.S. Treasury and $19,896 to the State of Maine.  The defendant pleaded guilty to the charges on August 15, 2013. 

According to court documents, the defendant offered to assist individuals in filing tax returns and claims under Maine’s Residents Property Tax and Rent Refund "Circuit Breaker" Program.  Partly as a result of these efforts, the defendant acquired the names, dates of birth and social security numbers of those individuals.  Between 2007 and 2012, she used that personal information to prepare and file electronically from Maine dozens of false income tax returns
seeking $435,298 in federal and state tax refunds without the authority or knowledge of the individuals whose identities she had stolen.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation and Maine Revenue Services.