CHICAGO, IL – 2020 – A Chicago woman has been convicted of leading a massive tax refund scheme that netted over $2.6 million in false refunds.
Lamesha Conley, 37, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges in a scheme that involved providing stolen identities to co-conspirators Dominique King and Roxann Gist.
Between January 2014 and July 2015, King and Gist used the stolen identities to file over 6,000 fraudulent income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), seeking refunds totaling over $2.6 million.
Conley, who faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and a two-year mandatory minimum sentence for aggravated identity theft, is scheduled to be sentenced on January 27, 2020.
Conley’s co-conspirators, King and Gist, previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme and were sentenced to 30 months and 36 months in prison, respectively. They were also ordered to pay $1,332,935 in restitution to the IRS.
The case was investigated by special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Timothy M. Russo and Lee F. Langston of the Tax Division.
A federal grand jury charged Conley and her co-defendants with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in 2019. Conley’s guilty plea brings the case to a close, with a sentencing hearing set for January 27, 2020.
Related Federal Cases
- Terry L. Gantt, ID Theft and Wire Fraud, Cedar Rapids IA, 2012 · Illinois
- Denae Sullivan, Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft, Anchorage… · Illinois
- Princess L. Eatmon, Student Loan Wire Fraud, Albany GA, 2023 · Illinois
- Orlando James Currey, Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud, IL,… · Illinois
- Petrica Octavian Stoian, Wire Fraud, Lexington KY, 2023 · Illinois
Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: White Collar Crime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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