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| This is what bragging on Facebook will get you! |
A mother of three, who taunted
authorities to catch her as she stole about $20 million from the IRS,
has been jailed for 21 years.
Rashia
Wilson, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft
earlier this year, admitted to stealing more than $3 million but the
figure is believed to be much higher.
Tampa police were first alerted to the fraud in 2010 when they noticed a drop in drug dealing in the area.
As Wilson, who became known as the
'First Lady of tax fraud' was sentenced on Tuesday, she was denied the
chance to hug her three children, aged between 2 and 12, good-bye,
according to the Tampa Bay Times.
'She knew what she was doing was wrong. She reveled in the fact that it was wrong,' U.S. District Judge James. S. Moody Jr. said.
The
27-year-old, who also pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a
firearm, had boasted on Facebook that she was untouchable.
'I'm Rashia, the queen of IRS tax fraud,' the post stated. 'I'm
a millionaire for the record, so if U think indicting me will B easy it
won't, I promise you! U need more than black and white to hold me down N
that's to da rat who went N told, as if 1st lady don't have da TPD
under her spell. I run Tampa right now.'
A
psychologist brought in to testify for the defense argued the Facebook
post was a sign of Wilson's bi-polar disorder, which made her liable to
brag.
Valerie McClain told the court that 'adolescent bragging'
in Facebook posts is consistent with manic-phase behavior. Wilson had bi-polar diagnosed when she was 14.
Wilson's
fraud was discovered during a two-year investigation called 'Operation
Rain Maker', named in reference to all the money raining down on the
suspects' mail boxes, according to ABC News.
The
multi-agency investigation included Tampa Police Department,
IRS-Criminal Investigations, the Secret Service, the U.S. Postal
Inspection Service and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
Those involved in the tax fraud operation used stolen Social Security numbers to file returns, according to the Global Dispatch.
The scam meant that ordinary taxpayers had to wait for up to a year to receive their refunds.
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