Lance Ealy, Tax Fraud, Ohio 2014

A Dayton man has been convicted of tax fraud after a bench trial in the Southern District of Ohio.

Lance Ealy, 29, of Dayton, was convicted of three counts of failure to appear in U.S. District Court. The verdict was issued by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas M. Rose on October 22, 2015.

Ealy was initially convicted in November 2014 of buying stolen identities online and using the identities to file more than 150 fraudulent federal income tax returns seeking refunds to which he was not entitled.

The jury convicted Ealy of 46 charges, including one count of illegally possessing 15 or more unauthorized access devices, 11 counts of filing false claims for income tax refunds with the IRS, 14 counts of wire fraud, 14 counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of mail fraud, and one count of using unauthorized access devices to obtain $1,000 or more in a one-year period.

Ealy faces up to 10 years in prison on each count of possessing 15 or more unauthorized access devices with intent to defraud and using unauthorized access devices to obtain items of $1,000 or more in value; up to five years in prison on each count of filing false claims for income tax refunds with the IRS; up to 20 years in prison on each count of wire fraud and each count of mail fraud; and mandatory two-year sentences on each count of aggravated identity theft that must run consecutive to whatever sentence may ultimately be handed down.

He also faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison for his failure to appear convictions, which must run consecutive to the sentence of imprisonment for any other offense. Judge Rose has scheduled sentencing in Ealy’s failure to appear case for February 6, 2016.

The investigation was led by the U.S. Marshals Service, Secret Service and IRS-Criminal Investigation agents. U.S. Attorney Carter M. Stewart commended the investigation and the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alex R. Sistla and Andrew J. Hunt, who are prosecuting the case.

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