{"id":29434,"date":"2017-02-14T14:53:54","date_gmt":"2017-02-14T22:53:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=29434"},"modified":"2017-02-14T19:06:49","modified_gmt":"2017-02-15T03:06:49","slug":"check-casher-sentenced-to-prison-for-cashing-fraudulently-obtained-tax-refund-check","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=29434","title":{"rendered":"Check Casher Sentenced to Prison for Cashing Fraudulently Obtained Tax Refund Checks"},"content":{"rendered":"

GEORGIA<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Check casher sentenced to prison for fraudulently cashing 250 tax-refund checks worth $645,000, officials said Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/p>\n

A federal judge sentenced George Rowell, 61, Columbus, Georgia resident to 18 months in prison for his role in a stolen identity refund fraud scheme, federal officials announced.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to documents filed with the court, George Rowell, 61, owned and operated Big O\u2019s Package Store in Columbus, which offered check-cashing services.<\/span><\/p>\n

Between February 2012 and March 2013, federal agents approached Rowell about cashing fraudulently obtained refund checks for people whose names did not appear on the checks, according to authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite being warned, Rowell cashed checks in bulk for several co-conspirators even though the checks were not in their names.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rowell also allowed at least one co-conspirator to forge in front of him the signature of the taxpayers to whom the checks were made payable.<\/span><\/p>\n

Officials said Rowell charged his co-conspirators a 10 percent fee and in 2013 cashed over 250 refund checks worth more than $645,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the term of prison imposed, Rowell was ordered to serve three years of supervised release to the IRS in the amount of $645,343.03.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rowell pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit theft of public money in August 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rowell\u2019s co-conspirators previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Dec. 2016, Tonya Alexander was sentenced to serve 37 months in prison. In September 2015, Keisha Lanier was sentenced to serve 15 years in prison. In August 2015, Tracy Mitchell was sentenced to serve 13 years and three months in prison.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GEORGIA Check casher sentenced to prison for fraudulently cashing 250 tax-refund checks worth $645,000, officials said Tuesday. A federal judge sentenced George Rowell, 61, Columbus, Georgia resident to 18 months in prison…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,3],"tags":[3203],"class_list":["post-29434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-main-slider","category-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-tax"],"yoast_head":"\nCheck Casher Sentenced to Prison for Cashing Fraudulently Obtained Tax Refund Checks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Check casher sentenced to prison for fraudulently cashing 250 tax-refund checks worth $645,000, officials said Tuesday.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=29434\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Check Casher Sentenced to Prison for Cashing Fraudulently Obtained Tax Refund Checks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Check casher sentenced to prison for fraudulently cashing 250 tax-refund checks worth $645,000, officials said Tuesday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=29434\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Justice Notebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-14T22:53:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-15T03:06:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/BigOsStore-1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=29434#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=29434\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Raul\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\"},\"headline\":\"Check Casher Sentenced to Prison for Cashing Fraudulently Obtained Tax Refund Checks\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-14T22:53:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-15T03:06:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=29434\"},\"wordCount\":254,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=29434#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/BigOsStore-1.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Tax\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Home Main Slider\",\"U.S. Department of Justice\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=29434#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=29434\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=29434\",\"name\":\"Check Casher Sentenced to Prison for Cashing Fraudulently Obtained Tax Refund Checks\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=29434#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=29434#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/BigOsStore-1.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-14T22:53:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-15T03:06:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"Check casher sentenced to prison for fraudulently cashing 250 tax-refund checks worth $645,000, officials said Tuesday.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=29434\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=29434#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/BigOsStore-1.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/BigOsStore-1.jpeg\",\"width\":550,\"height\":300},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"description\":\""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"width\":675,\"height\":231,\"caption\":\"American Justice Notebook\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\",\"name\":\"Raul\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Raul\"},\"description\":\"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Check Casher Sentenced to Prison for Cashing Fraudulently Obtained Tax Refund Checks","description":"Check casher sentenced to prison for fraudulently cashing 250 tax-refund checks worth $645,000, officials said Tuesday.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=29434","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Check Casher Sentenced to Prison for Cashing Fraudulently Obtained Tax Refund Checks","og_description":"Check casher sentenced to prison for fraudulently cashing 250 tax-refund checks worth $645,000, officials said Tuesday.","og_url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=29434","og_site_name":"American Justice Notebook","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook","article_published_time":"2017-02-14T22:53:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-02-15T03:06:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":550,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/BigOsStore-1.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Raul","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Raul","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=29434#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=29434"},"author":{"name":"Raul","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0"},"headline":"Check Casher Sentenced to Prison for Cashing Fraudulently Obtained Tax Refund Checks","datePublished":"2017-02-14T22:53:54+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-15T03:06:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=29434"},"wordCount":254,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=29434#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/BigOsStore-1.jpeg","keywords":["Tax"],"articleSection":["Home Main Slider","U.S. Department of Justice"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=29434#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=29434","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=29434","name":"Check Casher Sentenced to Prison for Cashing Fraudulently Obtained Tax Refund Checks","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=29434#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=29434#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/BigOsStore-1.jpeg","datePublished":"2017-02-14T22:53:54+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-15T03:06:49+00:00","description":"Check casher sentenced to prison for fraudulently cashing 250 tax-refund checks worth $645,000, officials said Tuesday.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=29434"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=29434#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/BigOsStore-1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/BigOsStore-1.jpeg","width":550,"height":300},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","name":"American Justice Notebook","description":""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization","name":"American Justice Notebook","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","width":675,"height":231,"caption":"American Justice Notebook"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0","name":"Raul","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","caption":"Raul"},"description":"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.","sameAs":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29434"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29455,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29434\/revisions\/29455"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}