WOMAN SENTENCED TO 5 WEEKENDS IN JAIL FOR FELONY THEFT OF TAX REFUNDS

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that Lachelle Taneka Lee, age 29, currently residing on Marquette Road, Baltimore, was sentenced on May 23 by Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Philip T. Caroom for her role in stealing six income tax refunds from the State of Maryland Office of the Comptroller. Sentencing follows Lachelle Lee’s March 10, 2005 conviction on six counts of felony theft of money from the Office of the Comptroller.

On each of the six theft counts, Judge Caroom sentenced Lachelle Lee to four years in the Division of Corrections, and suspended all but ten days, to be served at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center in five consecutive weekends beginning June 24. The Court also placed Ms. Lee on probation for five years, during which time she is to pay $3,043.50 in restitution to the Office of the Comptroller and complete 100 hours of community service.

Lachelle Lee was part of a theft scheme with a friend to file fraudulent State tax returns in order to get the tax refunds that were issued as a result of the false returns. The State proved that, in six incidents, Lachelle Lee knowingly received stolen tax State refunds into her bank accounts. Each stolen refund was more than $500.

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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