‘First Lady of Tax Fraud’ Rashia Wilson sentenced to 21 years in prison
The self-proclaimed ‘First Lady’ of tax fraud from Tampa has been sentenced to 21 years in prison after being arrested as part of Operation Rainmaker back in September.
Wilson, also called the ‘Queen of Tax Fraud,’ faced charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
She also was ordered to forfeit $2.2 million, the proceeds traceable to the offenses, according to a written statement.
“It’s easy, judge, very easy to make fun of my client,” said defense attorney Mark O’Brien, who said a widely publicized picture of Wilson wearing a blonde wig and hoisting wads of cash “is a result of her mental illness.”
“No one’s making fun of his client,” responded Assistant U.S. Attorney Mandy Riedel. People are “pointing out the facts that she put into the media.” What’s easy, the prosecutor said, is “to get a job and live within your means.”
O’Brien implored U.S. District Judge James Moody to sentence Wilson to 10 to 15 years in prison, and not a longer sentence as called for under federal guidelines.
But Moody was unmoved. “She knew what she was doing was wrong,” he said. “She reveled in the fact that she was doing wrong.”
From April 2009 through September 2012, Wilson and co-conspirator Maurice J. Larry, engaged in a scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service by negotiating fraudulent tax refunds.
Tax refund fraud – known as “TurboTax” and “Drops” – has exploded in the past two years in Tampa, where authorities say criminals are stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from federal taxpayers by using stolen identities to file tax returns for fraudulent refunds
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