Orlando, FL – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal jury yesterday found Ricardo Miguel Mayo (49, Titusville) guilty of theft of government money and aggravated identity theft. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison for the money theft, to be followed by 2 years’ imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft charge. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 16, 2017.
Mayo was indicted on September 21, 2016.
According to the evidence presented at trial, a fraudulent 2011 federal tax return in the name of an 84-year-old woman from Georgia was filed in January 2012. The fraudulent return requested that a federal tax refund in the amount of $9,874 be issued via a prepaid debit card, and that the debit card be sent to Mayo’s address. After the return was processed, Mayo received the debit card that was issued in the victim’s name. In February 2012, when the $9,874 tax refund was loaded onto the debit card, Mayo used the card to steal and convert government money in a series of large cash withdrawals and purchases.
This case was investigated by the St. Cloud Internal Revenue Service-Secret Service Financial Crimes Task Force, a task force comprised of the following federal, state and local law enforcement agencies: Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation; the United States Secret Service; the St. Cloud Police Department; the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office; the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office; the Palm Bay Police Department; the Casselberry Police Department; the Kissimmee Police Department; the Winter Park Police Department; and the Maitland Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Emily C. L. Chang.