Last week, a federal judge sentenced a Tampa woman to 3 years and 3 months in federal prison. She pleaded guilty on February 12, 2013.

U. S. District Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington sentenced Ms. Tanya Cullens for conspiracy to commit tax fraud and aggravated identity theft. The court also entered a forfeiture money judgment for $44,080. Ms. Cullens was also court ordered to pay $85,055 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and Jabil Circuit, Inc., in a separate case.

According to court documents, in 2011, Ms. Cullens pretended to be an employee of Jabil Circuit and obtained relocation benefits on three separate occasions. The lump sum payments were for false moving expenses that never took place.

Court documents stated that the company lost $40,975 due to the wire fraud committed by Ms. Cullens and Ms. Alesia Spivey. Ms. Spivey was an employee of Jabil Circuit, Inc., at the time of the offense.

Court documents further showed that Ms. Cullens was employed on the cleaning staff at University Community Hospital. On January 17, 2012, she reportedly removed a patient list from the hospital without authorization. The list contained the names and personal information of 48 patients who had been treated at the hospital on that same date.

Ms. Cullens gave the list to her friend and co-conspirator, Ms. Spivey, who used the list to file fraudulent income tax returns with the IRS without the knowledge of the victims.

Ten fraudulent returns were filed by the women who received approximately $79,204. Ultimately, the IRS paid $44,080 to the women, court documents stated.

Ms. Spivey pleaded guilty for her role in the conspiracy in December 2012. She will be sentenced on June 19, 2013.