On Thursday, an Independence, Missouri, woman was sentenced in federal court for stealing the identities of her relatives and acquaintances to file fraudulent tax returns. Sheryl D. Hughes, 41, was sentenced to three years in prison without parole. The court also ordered her to pay $7,045 in restitution to her victims.
On June 8 of last year, Hughes pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Hughes obtained Social Security numbers from several of her relatives and acquaintances and used them to prepare false and fraudulent individual income tax returns. The income tax returns included false information concerning income earned, federal income tax withheld, false education credits, and false and fraudulent claims for income tax refunds… KCTV5 News