Tampa Couple Sentenced for Stolen Identity Refund Fraud

A shocking case of identity theft and wire fraud has come to an end in Tampa, Florida. Tressa V. Guy and her husband, Brian E. Simmons, have been sentenced to prison for their involvement in the scheme.

Tressa V. Guy, 10 years and one month in federal prison, was handed down by U.S. District Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington for conspiring to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Her husband, Brian E. Simmons, received a harsher sentence, 16 years in federal prison, for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

As part of their sentence, the court entered a money judgment against each in the amount of $790,421.28, the proceeds of the wire fraud and identity theft scheme. The court also ordered Guy and Simmons to each pay $790,421.28 in restitution.

Guy pleaded guilty on October 16, 2013, and Simmons followed suit on November 26, 2013. According to court documents, the couple and others orchestrated a scheme to defraud the United States Treasury by causing fraudulent federal income tax returns to be filed using stolen identities.

The scheme involved soliciting personal identifying information and addresses from co-conspirators in Florida and Georgia. To facilitate the scheme, the conspirators coordinated the withdrawal of fraudulently obtained tax refund amounts from prepaid debit cards. The identities used to file the fraudulent tax returns belonged to individuals living in various states across the country.

As part of the conspiracy, at least 322 federal income tax returns for tax year 2011 were filed from nine Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, claiming refunds of $2,701,844.00. The scheme resulted in a loss of $790,421.28 to the Internal Revenue Service.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Tampa Police Department, and the Monroe County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Matthew J. Mueller and Trial Attorney Jason H. Poole of the Tax Division.

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