Guilty plea in $250K tax fraud

Ledale Johnson, 51, of Bradenton, pleaded guilty to knowingly filing a false income tax return on behalf of another and aggravated identity theft, in a fraud case worth more than $250,000.

Johnson faces up to five years in federal prison for the tax return count, according to a statement, plus another two possible years on the identity theft count.

According to the plea agreement, Johnson filed false tax returns claiming refunds from the IRS that totaled more than $250,000. Nearly $60,000 was downloaded onto prepaid debit cards in other people's names, authorities add. Between October 2011 and March 2012, Johnson was found with fraudulently loaded debit cards on several occasions.

During a search of Johnson's residence in November 2011, law enforcement officers seized personal identifying information belonging to others, multiple computers and more than 100 user identification numbers associated with electronically filing tax returns.