Johnson City Woman Sentenced For Preparing False Federal Income Tax Returns

BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK - Lavyette Garcia, age 41, of Johnson City, New York, was sentenced today to serve 24 months in prison and to pay $72,452.00 in restitution to the U.S. Treasury Department following her guilty plea to Preparing False Federal Income Tax Returns and Making False Claims Against the United States government, announced United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and James D.  Robnett, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI). Garcia was also ordered to serve a 3-year term of supervised release following her prison sentence.

The defendant was arrested by Special Agents of the IRS-CI at her home in Johnson City, New York, on November 17, 2017 and subsequently pled guilty. In admitting her guilt, Ms. Garcia acknowledged that from 2011 to 2014 she knowingly and intentionally prepared and filed 110 false and fraudulent federal income tax returns for others. These false returns included fictitious income levels and falsely claimed eligibility for tax credits in an effort to qualify for tax refunds totaling $848,196.00. The IRS was able to identify some income tax returns as containing false information and halted some refund payments. In many cases where refunds were issued, Lavyette Garcia kept as much as half of the refunded money for herself.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Southwick.