NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A business owner on Virginia’s Eastern Shore collapsed in the courtroom after she was sentenced for a fraud scheme.
Media outlets report that medics attended to 50-year-old Linda Avila following her collapse during Wednesday’s hearing in federal court in Norfolk. She then left the courtroom in the custody of U.S. marshals.
U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson sentenced Avila to 12 years behind bars and refused to allow her to self-report to prison.
Prosecutors say Avila conspired with others to use phony identities of illegal migrant workers to get more than $7 million in tax refunds.
Court documents show Avila operated a landscaping and cleaning business in Parksley and from her home in Frankford, Delaware.
Avila pleaded guilty in November 2014 to conspiracy and mail fraud.
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