Miramar Resident Sentenced For Filing A False Tax Return

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Donnell Young, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announce that U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn sentenced Erica Jacovia Bryant, 33, of Miramar, to 27 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered her to pay $89,190.27 in restitution to the IRS. Bryant was convicted after a two day jury trial on charges of filing a false claim, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 287.

According to the indictment and evidence introduced in court, Bryant filed a false 2011 tax return that fraudulently sought a $110,859.00 tax refund. Based upon this fraudulent return and the information contained therein, Bryant ultimately obtained a $100,653.22 tax refund from the IRS which was later utilized to purchase a 2013 Lincoln MKZ, which was later seized by the IRS for forfeiture.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI. This case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Anton.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.