North Escambia Residents Sentenced In $1 Million Prisoner Tax Refund Scam

May 9, 2012

Two Cantonment residents were among four people sentenced Tuesday morning in federal court for their involvement in a fraudulent prisoner income tax refund scheme.

The sentencings of Mary Hobbs Blair, age 62 of Cantonment, Carter Hassman, age 49 currently in the Santa Rosa County Jail, Nikki Kight are 44 of Cantonment, and Michael “Elton” Blair of Gulf Breeze were announced by Pamela C. Marsh, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

For his plea of guilty as to count one of the indictment, which charged all defendants with conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to false claims, Hassman was sentenced to the statutory maximum of 10 years in prison by Senior United States District Judge Lacey Collier. Judge Collier also ordered Hassman to pay restitution to the government in the amount of $962,853.

For his plea of guilty as to Count One of the indictment, which charged all defendants with conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to false claims, Hassman was sentenced to the statutory maximum of 10 years in prison by Senior United States District Judge Lacey Collier. Judge Collier also ordered Hassman to pay restitution to the government in the amount of $962,853.

In recognition of her substantial assistance to the government, Mary Hobbs Blair was sentenced to serve 52 months in prison and pay restitution to the government in the amount of $962,853. Mary Blair pleaded guilty to all 37 counts of the indictment on February 22, 2012.

For their guilty pleas to count one of the indictment, Kight and Elton Blair were each placed on probation for 60 months by the court. Judge Collier ordered Elton Blair to pay $85,691 and Kight to pay $55,231 in restitution to the government.

The federal indictment alleges that beginning around January 2007, the five individuals and others filed fraudulent tax returns using the names and social security numbers of inmates housed in the Florida Department of Corrections, along with those of  other individuals who were not incarcerated.

As part of the scheme, Mary Blair,  Rabeau, Kight and Elton Blair’s home addresses were listed on the tax returns, so IRS refund checks would be mailed to them. According to federal investigators.

As part of the scheme, false and nonexistent businesses were listed as the purported employers, listing fraudulent wages and withholding amounts for time periods in which the inmates were incarcerated. It is alleged that during the course of the scheme the defendants and others filed and  filed 223  false and fraudulent federal income tax returns, which falsely claimed approximately $954,795 in fraudulent tax refunds. The refunds were then deposited into Mary Blair’s bank accounts.
A fifth defendant, Thomas Rabeau of Brandon, FL, will be sentenced May 25.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News