Atlanta Couple Sentenced for Roles in $600K Tax Fraud

Patch Staff Report

Justin Cody, and his wife, Aeshia Wilmore, have been sentenced for their roles in a fraudulent income tax refund scheme.
                                                    

According to United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: From as early as February 2013 to May 2013, Cody and Wilmore participated in a scheme to defraud the Department of the Treasury by filing hundreds of fraudulent income tax returns using stolen identities.

This type of scheme is commonly called stolen identity refund fraud. Cody used stolen personal identification information of hundreds of victims, along with fake wage and withholding information, to prepare numerous fraudulent tax returns, claiming over $600,000 in tax refunds. After the refunds were processed, Cody had the refunds applied to blank prepaid debit cards that he and Wilmore used at various ATM machines throughout the Atlanta area.  

Cody, 33, of Atlanta, was sentenced to serve seven years and three months in federal prison. Wilmore, 25, also of Atlanta, was sentenced to two years in federal prison by United States District Judge Steve C. Jones. On November 22, 2013, Cody and Wilmore each pleaded guilty to count three of the indictment, which is a substantive count of theft of public funds. Cody also pleaded guilty to aggravated identity fraud.

“Stealing identities of innocent people has become all too common,” said Yates in a news release. “The sentence these two received makes it clear that we are committed to exposing and bringing to justice anyone who engages in this conduct.”