SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Lejohn Windom Sr., 53, of Sacramento, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley to seven years and 10 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.1 million in restitution to the IRS for mail fraud, conspiracy to submit false claims, and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, between 2010 and 2013, Windom and his co‑conspiratorsfiled 682 income tax returns, requesting nearly $2 million in fraudulent refunds. Of those returns, more than $1.1 million in fraudulent refunds were paid. Windom and others used stolen identities to request the tax refunds and then forged the names of the taxpayers to make the fraudulent refund checks payable to themselves.
“The false tax refund scheme perpetrated by Lejohn Windom and other co-conspirators victimized hundreds of taxpayers and stole over one million dollars from all American taxpayers,” said Michael T. Batdorf, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation. “With the April 18 tax deadline approaching, it is important taxpayers know IRS-Criminal Investigation and our law enforcement partners are actively combating identity theft involving their personal information used to file false tax returns. The sentence imposed today by the court sets a clear example that tax fraud does not pay.”
This case is the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew G. Morris is prosecuting the case.
Co-defendants Tracy Hartway and Audrey Johnson have pleaded guilty and are scheduled for sentencing on January 12, 2017, and January 26, 2017 respectively. Co-defendant Lejohn Windon Jr. is scheduled for a status hearing on January 12, 2017. The charges against him are only allegations; he is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.