Hamburg Woman Sentenced for Role in Tax Scheme

        BUFFALO, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Sheri L. Becirovic, 47, of Hamburg, N.Y., who was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the government, was sentenced to time served by Chief U.S. District Court Judge William M. Skretny. The defendant has been in prison for 12 months. Becirovic was also ordered to pay $24,341.00 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant obtained the social security numbers of seven family members and friends. Becirovic provided those numbers, in addition to her own social security number, to a co-conspirator, Clifton Jackson, who used them to file fraudulent tax returns for the tax year 2011.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Special Agent- in-Charge Toni M. Weirauch, and the United States Postal Inspection Service under the direction of Kevin Niland, Inspector in Charge, Boston Division.