Former Tallahassee Resident Arrested For Tax Fraud

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Jerry Samuel Joseph, 33, who has also been known as “Gerry Jeudy,” “Jeremiah Pericles,” and “Jay,” was arrested this morning in Brooklyn, New York, on charges arising from a scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.  Joseph was a Tallahassee resident until approximately 2009.

According to an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Tallahassee, Joseph and others filed fraudulent tax returns using stolen identities to claim approximately $350,000 in federal income tax refunds, with refund checks to be issued to an address in Tallahassee.  Joseph is charged with conspiring to defraud the IRS, converting government property, mail fraud, and aggravated identity theft.  Joseph has been ordered detained in New York, and will be removed to custody in Tallahassee in the near future.

If convicted, Joseph faces up to 10 years in prison for the conspiracy and conversion counts, up to 20 years for mail fraud, and a mandatory consecutive term of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft.

The case has been investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation, the United States Secret Service, and the United States Postal Service.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael T. Simpson.

An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt.  All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.