KENNETH RANDLE DOOR, Tax Fraud, Washington 2013

Defendant Name, Crime, State Year

KENNETH RANDLE DOOR, 44, a former Washington State Prison inmate, has pleaded guilty to 11 counts of tax fraud and 3 counts of illegal possession of firearms, explosives, and a ballistic vest.

The scheme, which took place in 2008 and 2009, involved filing fake tax returns using the names and Social Security numbers of prison inmates to claim fraudulent refunds. DOOR was incarcerated at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla at the time, while his co-conspirators lived in Tacoma and Puyallup.

The conspirators used the internet to identify companies that had declared bankruptcy and had recently closed. They created fake W-2 forms indicating wages paid and taxes withheld from the individuals whose identities they used. Virtually all of these individuals were prison inmates at the time who had not been employed by the now-defunct companies.

The conspirators filed at least 31 false tax returns, attempting to obtain more than $145,000 in refunds. They obtained nearly $72,000 in fraudulent tax refunds. DOOR's co-conspirators in the tax scheme have been sentenced to terms ranging from eight months to 33 months in prison.

DOOR will be sentenced on the tax charges on December 16, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle, and on the illegal weapons possession charges on December 12, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton.

Prosecutors will argue that DOOR is an Armed Career Criminal and therefore should be sentenced at or above the mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison. The tax case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and the weapons case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Steven Masada and Norman Barbosa.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/former-prison-inmate-who-ran-scam-state-penitentiary-pleads-guilty-tax-and-weapons