HONOLULU (AP) - Federal prosecutors say a Hawaii woman helped a prison inmate file fraudulent tax returns that collected hundreds of thousand dollars in refunds to support a prison gang.
A complaint filed last week charges Melisa George with conspiracy to file false tax returns.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser (https://bit.ly/VncP9s) reports George is charged with assisting inmate Robin Lee by forwarding false tax returns, completing some of the forms and paying street people to sign them.
The 53-year-old Lee pleaded guilty July 30 to racketeering.
Prosecutors say he filed nearly 300 fraudulent tax returns from 2007 to 2012 and collected $353,810.
Prosecutors say the money helped a gang, “USO Family” buy drugs and bribe prison guards at Halawa Correctional Facility.
Lee will be sentenced in December. He faces a minimum of 20 years.
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Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, https://www.staradvertiser.com
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