FOURTH CO-DEFENDANT CONVICTED IN THEFT SCHEME

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that Barbara Eugenia Williams, age 35, currently residing in Aberdeen Maryland, was convicted on her plea of guilty April 5 by Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Hackner of one count of Felony Theft of money from the State of Maryland Office of the Comptroller. The Court sentenced Williams to one year in the Anne Arundel County Detention Center, and suspended the sentence. Williams, of Gemini Court in Baltimore City, was placed on supervised probation for two years. During probation, Williams is ordered to pay the Office of the Comptroller $2,708.50 in restitution at a rate of $120.000 per month. This is a portion of the money taken during a theft scheme.

Barbara Williams was part of a four-person theft scheme to file fraudulent 2002 State tax returns in order to get the State refunds that issued as a result of the false returns. The State investigation proved that Barbara"Gina" Williams and Nicole Martin actually prepared and filed a number of fraudulent State tax returns. Williams also knowingly received some stolen State tax refunds into her bank accounts. Co-defendants Nicole Martin and Lachelle Lee await sentencing for Felony Theft. Sabrina Martin will be sentenced later in April for Conspiracy to Commit Felony Theft.

The case was investigated and prosecuted by the Office of the Attorney General, Criminal Investigations Division, with assistance from the Maryland Office of the Comptroller and Maryland State Police.  

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