A Tallahatchie County woman has been sentenced to serve a total of 33 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to three charges, including converting to her own use a federal income tax refund check issued to another person.
Veronica Lloyd, 46, of 5031 Mississippi Highway 35 N., Enid, also pleaded guilty to wire fraud and using threats of force to impede a U.S. Department of the Treasury special agent.
Lloyd was sentenced Oct. 19 by U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson in Aberdeen. Following her incarceration, she will serve three years of supervised probation. She also was ordered to pay $52,341.67 in restitution to her victims.
Lloyd had been indicted in April by a federal grand jury.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi, the charges against Lloyd were the result of a joint investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office, the Department of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division.
The agencies investigated allegations that “Enid residents had monies from their yearly income tax refunds taken illegally and that subsequently they were contacted by a fictitious ‘IRS agent’ and told not to contact the IRS about the issues. Lloyd also threatened to strike an agent of the Department of Treasury with a shovel, and later investigation revealed her use of interstate wire communication to commit fraud,” the news release noted.
“It is the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s mission to protect the integrity of the Internal Revenue Service and promote the fair administration of our federal tax system,” said Special Agent in Charge Ruben Florez of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s (TIGTA) Mid-States Field Division.
“TIGTA and its law enforcement partners will investigate individuals that attempt to assault its employees and interfere with the administration of the internal revenue laws through impersonation schemes, and will do everything within its power to ensure that those involved are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Florez added.
Jerome R. McDuffle, supervisory special agent in charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division’s New Orleans Field Office stated, “Veronica Lloyd will serve time in prison for her victimization of Mississippi taxpayers. She stooped to means such as stealing the tax refunds of her identity theft victims, and impersonating an IRS employee in an effort to obstruct the efforts of federal law enforcement officers. Every day of her prison term is a well-deserved reward for her actions.”
Lloyd is to serve her incarceration in a federal facility designated by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
The case was prosecuted by assistant U.S. attorneys Jamiel Wiggins and Clay Joyner.
