Johnny Alexander Melo, 36, of Miramar, Fla., was recently sentenced to 60 months of imprisonment followed by one year of supervised release for his involvement in an identity theft tax refund scheme. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $18,594.63 to the IRS.
Melo had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to use a false identification document, one count of possession of five or more identification documents, one count of theft of government funds, and one count of aggravated identity theft.
http://liarcatchers.com/identity_theft_investigation.html
He was charged in a 10-count indictment on October 5, 2012, which claimed that he and his co-conspirators had stolen several people’s personal identification information, then used that information to file false tax returns in at least 22 individuals’ names. When the U.S. Treasury issued tax refund checks in those people’s names, Melo had apparently attempted to cash the fraudulently obtained checks using fraudulent driver’s licenses.
