Chicago Heights Woman Sentenced to 37 Months of Imprisonment

HAMMOND-Tanisha Bledsoe,48, of Chicago Heights, Illinois, was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge Jon E. DeGuilio following her guilty plea to wire fraud, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Bledsoe was sentenced to 37 months in prison followed by 1 year of supervised release. Bledsoe was ordered to pay $2,167,710 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

According to documents filed in the case, on or about January 21, 2016, Bledsoe assisted in the preparation and filing of a false 2015 tax return for a client. Bledsoe used the internet and an online company to create and file a fabricated W-2 form for the purpose of supporting the false wage income on the client’s tax return. Bledsoe then filed the tax return knowing that it was false. In total, Bledsoe admitted that she assisted in the preparation of 540 false tax returns as part of this scheme.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigative Division.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Chang.