Date: 02-02-2016

Case Style: United States of America v. G. F. “Pete” Peterman, IIII and and LaRae Townsend

Case Number: 4:15-cr-00057-CDL-MSH

Judge: Clay D. Land

Court: United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia (Muscogee County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: Melvin E. Hyde

Defendant's Attorney: Mark Gaffney for Michelle Simmons

Mark Shelnutt for LaRae Townsend

Description: Columbua, GA - Columbus Tax Preparers Plead Guilty To Identity Theft And Income Tax Fraud

Michelle Simmons, age 37, of Columbus, and LaRae Townsend, age 36, of Orlando, Florida each pled guilty on February 2, 2016 to one count of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of filing false and fictitious claims in front of the Honorable Clay D. Land, Chief U.S. District Judge, in Columbus, Georgia.

According the facts stipulated in the plea agreement, from about January 1, 2011, to March 1, 2014, Ms. Simmons was employed as a tax preparer for a “Gatison & Associates,” located on Miller Road in Columbus, Georgia, and “C&C Bill Pay and Tax Services” in Phenix City, Alabama. Ms. Townsend provided names and social security numbers, obtained from a variety of sources, to Ms. Simmons. Ms. Simmons then submitted approximately 557 fraudulent income tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) using an Electronic Filing Identification Number from IRS. Ms. Simmons and Ms. Townsend split the resulting refunds. False claims were filed with the IRS in the total amount of $924,123 in this manner. Due to the fact that some of the returns filed by Ms. Simmons were rejected, the actual loss to the government was $419,139.

Ms. Simmons and Ms. Townsend each face a maximum sentence of thirty (30) years imprisonment, a fine of up to $1,000,000, or both on the wire fraud charges and up to five years and a $250,000 fine as to the false statement charges. Each also faces a mandatory consecutive two year sentence of incarceration on the aggravated identity theft charges.

“Crimes of this nature produce two separate groups of victims. First are those whose identities are stolen and who are then forced to go through the embarrassment and inconvenience of trying to straighten out all the attendant problems this causes in their lives. The second set of victims are the citizens of the United States, who stood to lose almost $1,000,000 had this scheme not been uncovered through the fine investigative work of the IRS and the Harris County Sheriff’s Department,” said United States Attorney Peterman.

“IRS Criminal Investigation will remain proactive in the investigation of individuals who engage in stealing the identities of innocent people,” said Veronica F. Hyman-Pillot, Special Agent in Charge. “We will continue to utilize every tool available to investigate those who victimize members of our community and innocent taxpayers for their own personal gain.”

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

Outcome: Guilty

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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