Plantation Resident Sentenced to Prison for his Participation in a Stolen Identity Tax Fraud Scheme

A Plantation resident was sentenced to 34 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $79,459 for his participation in a stolen identity tax fraud scheme.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and W. Howard Harrison, Chief, Plantation Police Department, made the announcement. 

Sean Lyons, 29, previously pled guilty to one count of possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(3), and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1).

According to court documents, in May 2014, Lyons participated in a tax fraud scheme in which he received fraudulently obtained United States Department of Treasury tax refunds into accounts linked to prepaid debit cards over which the defendant had control. The tax refunds were filed in the names of other individuals, and the prepaid debit card accounts were registered using the names and Social Security numbers of those same individuals, without their knowledge and authority.

During the course of the scheme, Lyons had in his possession at least 73 prepaid debit cards that had been registered in the names and Social Security numbers of other individuals, without the individuals' knowledge or authority.  Several of the debit cards had been funded through direct deposit with fraudulently obtained Treasury tax refunds.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI and the Plantation Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tonya R. Long.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.