Mississippi woman sentenced in tax fraud case

Published 10:51 pm Wednesday, May 3, 2017

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — A Mississippi woman has been sentenced to 94 months in prison for her role in filing fraudulent tax returns using stolen identities and causing the refunds to be mailed to post office boxes in Louisiana.

Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook, in a news release Tuesday, said U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. sentenced 50-year-old Shannon Brumfield, of Byram, on two counts each of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. She was also ordered Monday to pay $386,141 restitution.

Van Hook’s office says Brumfield used her position as a lieutenant at the Hinds County Detention Center to access a computer system to steal names and Social Security numbers of inmates and others. She then used the information to file fake tax returns from May 2011 through December 2012.

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