Jackson Woman Pleads Guilty To Stolen Identity Refund Fraud

Jackson, Miss – Marietta Harris, 38, of Jackson, pled guilty on March 5, 2014 to conspiring to defraud the United States, announced U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis. She will be sentenced on May 15, 2014 by U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate and faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Harris and her co-conspirators defrauded the government by using personal identifying information, including names and social security numbers, which had been stolen from the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility located in Rankin County, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and other locations. The information was then used to file false tax returns with the IRS which claimed the tax payers were owed a refund. The refunds were then electronically deposited into various bank accounts in Mississippi belonging to Harris and her co-conspirators.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation with assistance from the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, the Mississippi Department of Corrections and the Mississippi Department of Revenue. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Lemon.