St. Croix Woman Sentenced to 18 Months in Federal Prison for Involvement in Multi-Defendant Tax Fraud Scheme

ST. CROIX — United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced Thursday that Thema Liverpool, age 33, from St. Croix was sentenced on December 2 in federal court by Judge Wilma A. Lewis to eighteen months incarceration, followed by three years of supervised release for her involvement in a multi-defendant tax fraud scheme.

Liverpool also must pay restitution of $83,111.71 to the Internal Revenue Service, the amount of falsely claimed tax return proceeds deposited into her bank accounts as a result of the scheme. The defendant pleaded guilty on November 18, 2019 to Conspiracy to Defraud the United States.

According to the plea agreement filed with the court, from January 2011 to July 2012, Thema Liverpool and others participated in a scheme to steal money from the United States treasury by fraudulently obtaining federal income tax refunds. The scheme involved the acquisition of personal identifying information of individuals (i.e. name, social security number, and date of birth) used to electronically file falsified tax returns with a designation of refunds to the acquired bank accounts or debit cards. Defendant and her co-conspirators withdrew the deposited refunds, spent them using a debit card, or transferred them to other accounts, all for personal use.