Lamesha Conley, Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft, Illinois 2023

Lamesha Conley, a Chicago woman, has been sentenced to 24 months in prison for conspiring to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Tax Division, and U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch, Jr. for the Northern District of Illinois.

According to documents and information provided to the court, beginning in 2014, Conley provided more than 6,000 stolen identities to Dominque King and Roxann Gist for the purpose of filing fraudulent income tax returns. Between 2014 and July 2015, King and Gist used those stolen identities to file fraudulent income tax returns with the IRS seeking more than $2.6 million in refunds. King and Gist directed that some of the refunds be mailed to Conley and other co-conspirators.

Conley, 30, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. She pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 24 months in prison, with 1 year of supervised release, and ordered to pay approximately $1,196,460 in restitution to the United States.

U.S. District Judge Robert William Gettlemen handed down the sentence. King and Gist, who pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme, were sentenced to 30 months and 36 months in prison, respectively, and ordered to pay $1,332,935 in restitution to the IRS.

The investigation was conducted by special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, and the case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Lee F. Langston and former Trial Attorney Timothy M. Russo of the Tax Division.

The Tax Division's enforcement efforts can be found on their website.

In a statement, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman commended the special agents and prosecutors for their hard work in bringing this case to justice.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/illinois-woman-sentenced-prison-conspiring-commit-wire-fraud-and-aggravated-identity-theft