Prison time ordered for faked tax returns

11/13/2008

A Toledo woman who pleaded guilty to charges that she falsified tax returns to obtain refunds was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Toledo to two months in prison.

Jennifer Thomas was convicted on 35 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns and one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government. As part of her plea, Thomas agreed to testify against co-defendant Martin Jamison, who was convicted of similar charges after a jury trial.

Yesterday, Judge David Katz ordered prison time for Thomas, followed by three years of supervised release with the first two months on home confinement. He also ordered $133,505 in restitution.

The pair were charged in March, 2007, for preparing 35 false returns totaling more than $160,000 for 26 people for tax years 2002 through 2004.

Court records show Jamison recruited customers and supplied names and Social Security numbers of false dependents for Thomas, who filed the returns electronically at home.

Jamison was sentenced Nov. 3 to 16 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised released. He, too, was ordered to pay $133,505 in restitution.