HAMMOND – The United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, Thomas L. Kirsch II, announced that Elbert Johnson, age 40, of Crown Point, Indiana was sentenced before U.S. District Court Judge James T. Moody. Johnson was sentenced to 61 months imprisonment, 2 years supervised release, and ordered to pay $551,647 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and the Indiana Department of Revenue.
According to documents in this case, Elbert Johnson, pled guilty to conspiracy to commit identity theft, filing of false claims, aggravated identity theft, and filing a false tax return. The fraud scheme involved filing false federal and state tax returns utilizing the names, dates of birth, and social security numbers of inmates in various prisons across the country without their knowledge, permission, or authority.
The case was the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Secret Service, and the Social Security Administration-Office of Inspector General. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Toi Denise Houston.
--DOJ Northern District of Indiana