A judge sentenced a former U.S. Postal worker to more than five years in prison for her role in a stolen identity tax refund fraud conspiracy, according to officials.
According to court evidence, between June 2012 and December 2013, the defendant Elizabeth Grant aka Elizabeth Williams Grant and Ann Grant, 52, conspired with others, including Tracy Mitchell of Phenix City, Alabama, and Keshia Lanier of Seale to obtain fraudulent income tax refunds by filing false federal income tax returns using stolen identities.
The scheme resulted in the filing of more than 700 false returns claiming more than $1.5 million in tax refunds.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, the judge ordered Grant, of Seale, Alabama, to serve three years of supervised release and pay restitution in the amount of $978,468.
For a fee, Grant provided co-conspirators with addresses along her mail delivery route to use in filing false tax returns. Grant then retrieved the fraudulent tax refund checks from the mail and delivered the checks to her co-conspirators.
Grant plead guilty in November 2015 to conspiracy to defraud the IRS, aggravated identity theft and embezzling mail. Several co-conspirators, including Mitchell and Lanier, plead guilty and were sentenced.
On Aug. 7, 2015, Mitchell was sentenced to 13 years and four months in prison.
On Sept. 25, 2015, Lanier was sentenced to 15 years in prison.