CHICAGO (AP) — A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to just over five years in prison for a scheme in which he used stolen IDs of Air Force servicemen to file for $845,000 in fraudulent tax returns.
A Justice Department statement Wednesday says that 34-year-old Jonathan Herring of Harvey filed 225 bogus returns in 2014 and 2015. Court filings say he worked with at least two others, using service members’ names and stolen social security numbers.
Prosecutors said in a presentencing filing that identity theft always victimizes someone. But it said this case was “particularly troublesome” because it victimized military members “protecting our freedoms.”
Herring pleaded guilty previously to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. A federal judge in Chicago also ordered that he pay nearly $600,000 in restitution to the IRS.