Defendant Sentenced in Federal Court to 46 Months on Fraud Charges

     United States Attorney Richard W. Moore of the Southern District of Alabama announces that Senior United States District Judge Callie V.S. Granade sentenced Isaiah Anderson-Harrison on October 16, 2017 to serve a term of imprisonment of 46 months followed by 3 years of supervised release for committing Access Device Fraud on March 27, 2014, in violation of 18 USC § 1029(a)(3).  The defendant entered a guilty plea before the Court on July 17, 2017.
     On the date of incident, Saraland Police stopped the defendant, who is a resident of Florida, for a motor vehicle violation.  As the vehicle pulled to the shoulder of the highway, the police observed the defendant roll down the driver’s window and throw a clear baggy out of the vehicle.  The baggy contained marijuana.  The police conducted an inventory search of the defendant’s vehicle before the vehicle was impounded.  During the search, the police discovered that the defendant was illegally in possession of thirty (30) photocopies of various drivers’ licenses and social security numbers, various business EIN numbers, tax calculations, and two boxes containing sixty (60) NetSpend Visa Debit Cards.  Police recovered a “Sweet Spot Sheet”.  In this case, the “sweet spot” would be the target income to receive maximum income tax refund based on the number of dependents.
     During the investigation, federal agents from the United States Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service contacted several victims and each stated that they did not know the defendant, and that he was not authorized to be in possession of their personal information.  Additionally, federal agents confirmed that 237 fraudulent electronic tax returns had been filed using the identifiers retrieved from the defendant’s vehicle.  The defendant was held accountable for approximately $345,000.00 in intended loss.
      This case was investigated by the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Department of Homeland Security, United States Secret Service, and the Saraland Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorneys Lawrence J. Bullard and Michael D. Anderson prosecuted the case.