Former Guard Sentenced To Prison For Tax Crimes

A former federal correctional officer from the Federal Correctional Institution at Greenville was sentenced to a total of six months in prison, a year of supervised release, and $22,108 in restitution to the IRS, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today.

Attillah Ruffin, 43, waived her right to be indicted by the Grand Jury and pled guilty to an Information in US District Court on January 28, 2013, for filing false tax returns. Ruffin admitted falsifying her personal income tax returns each tax year from 2005-2010. During that time period she defrauded the US Government out of $22,108 by claiming false dependents, false child care expenses, false unreimbursed employee expenses, and false residential energy credits. Ruffin also admitted to fraudulently obtaining a larger tax refund by using an inapplicable filing status by claiming to be a “head of household” when her filing status should have been “single.” Ruffin admitted that these crimes occurred while she was employed as a law enforcement officer for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Ruffin was sentenced to serve three months of her sentenced while imprisoned at the Bureau of Prisons, with 3 additional months to be served as home confinement. In addition to paying restitution, she was ordered not to open any credit accounts without prior approval and she was directed to undergo counseling for gambling while also signing a self-exclusion from area gaming establishments.

The investigation was conducted by agents from the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft.