Woman filed 1,000 false tax returns; used dead people

TAMPA — A federal judge sentenced a woman to 10 years and three months in prison for filing more than 1,000 false tax returns using stolen identities.

From 2010 to 2014, Tiffani Pye Williams stole the identity of 991 people and filed more than 1,000 fraudulent tax returns, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office in Tampa. Williams pleaded guilty to the offenses April 23.

The false tax returns generated more than $5.3 million in refunds for Williams and others involved in the scheme. The U.S. attorney's office says Williams received about $1.5 million and U.S. District Court Judge Steven Merryday ordered her to pay that amount in restitution.

Williams had the refunds wired to reloadable debit cards, which she used at automated teller machines and shops. Some of the identities she stole were from dead people, according to the U.S. attorney's statement.