A 29-year-old Baton Rouge woman was sentenced to just under three years in federal prison Wednesday after admitting she prepared numerous fraudulent tax returns, stealing $102,000 in tax refunds from the U.S. Treasury, the U.S. Attorney General’s Office reported.
Laguardia Coston of Baton Rouge used stolen identifications of 73 different people to steal the refunds, U.S. Attorney Walt Green reported. U.S. District Judge James Brady sentenced Coston to 33 months in prison and ordered that she forfeit $102,000 and make $102,000 in restitution to the U.S. Treasury.
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Coston pleaded guilty to theft of government funds in December.
“This sentence is a stern reminder that participation in refund fraud schemes does not pay and those who do so will be held accountable. Ms. Coston used 73 stolen identities to file false tax returns and obtain refunds for personal gain. Identity theft is an on-going problem and IRS-CI will continue to vigorously investigate those engaged in these illegal activities, and work with the United States Attorney’s Office to aggressively protect innocent taxpayers and preserve the integrity of our tax system,” said Jerome R. McDuffie, special agent-in-charge of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.
