Woman Sentenced to Seven Years’ Imprisonment for Tax Fraud, Identity Theft, and Making False Statements to Get Housing Assistance

A woman who stole others’ identities, filed false tax returns seeking to get more than $250,000 in fraudulent tax refunds, and lied in order to get government housing assistance was sentenced today to seven years in federal prison.

Kaeisha Robinson, age 38, from Phoenix, Arizona, and formerly of Maquoketa and Dubuque, Iowa, received the prison term after a September 2, 2016, guilty plea to one count of aggravated identity theft, one count of theft of government property, and one count of making false statements to a government agency.

In a plea agreement, Robinson admitted that from May 2011 to February 2013, she filed numerous false and fraudulent tax returns.  She further admitted that she filed these returns in both her own name and the names of others, some of whom were unaware that Robinson was using their identities to file fraudulent returns.  Robinson also admitted that as a result of these fraudulent returns, she received tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service to which she was not entitled and stole money from the government.  Finally, Robinson admitted that from October 2011 through July 2013, she lied on forms she completed in order to receive Section 8 housing assistance by failing to report all of her income.  As a result, Robinson received $12,143 in housing assistance to which she would not have been entitled had she been truthful.

Robinson was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade.  Robinson was sentenced to 84 months’ imprisonment.  A special assessment of $300 was imposed, and she was ordered to make $336,380 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and $12,143 in restitution to the Eastern Iowa Regional Housing Authority.  She must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Robinson is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until she can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, United States Postal Inspection Service-Criminal Investigations, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of the Inspector General. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 15-CR-00071.

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