Louisiana Return Preparer Sentenced to Additional Prison Time for Second Tax Fraud Conspiracy

A Louisiana woman was sentenced today to 10 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States. This sentence will begin to run after the completion of her previous sentence, imposed on April 14, of one year and one day in prison.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from January through April 2015, Brittany Patterson, of Jefferson Parish, conspired with others to file false tax returns for clients of Pelicans Income Tax and Payroll Service, a return preparation business with locations in Kenner and Westwego. Patterson and others prepared returns with false income and withholding amounts in order to generate tax refunds their clients were not entitled to receive. For the 2014 tax year, Patterson also falsified her own tax return, submitting to the IRS fictitious education expenses and dependent information. In total, Patterson and her conspirators fraudulently sought more than $550,000 in IRS refunds.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance ordered Patterson to serve three years of supervised release and to pay approximately $283,378 in restitution to the United States.

On April 14, Patterson was sentenced to prison in connection with a separate tax conspiracy relating to Crown Tax Service LLC, another return preparation business where Patterson worked as a tax return preparer.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans for the Eastern District of Louisiana made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Jessica Kraft and William Montague of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Carter Guice for the Eastern District of Louisiana prosecuted the case.