Tax cheat earns prison time

FORT MYERS — A federal judge sentenced a Fort Myers man to five years in prison for filing 80 false income-tax returns.

In addition, U.S. District Judge John Steele ordered Stafford Kelly of Fort Myers to pay the Internal Revenue Service $98,065 in restitution.

According to the U.S. Attorney's office, between February and May 2013, Kelly filed about 80 false income tax returns requesting $288,021 from the IRS. Kelly worked with other undisclosed people to file the returns using stolen identities.

Kelly pleaded guilty Sept. 29 on charges of filing false claims with the IRS and aggravated identity theft.