Court sentences husband and wife to prison for seeking more than $1.3 in tax refunds

A Joliet couple has been sentenced to federal prison by a US District Court. The couple was involved in filing fake tax returns and stealing the identities of at least 10 people. The husband and wife were found guilty in the court for seeking more than $1.3 million in tax returns.

Robert W. Gettleman, a US District Judge, sentenced Tillman Liggins III, a 50-year-old Joliet man, to five years and four months in federal prison on Tuesday. Chinita Williams-Liggins, the wife of Tillman, was sentenced to three years and six months in federal prison in July. Judge Gettleman also ordered the couple to pay $331154 to the IRS in restitution.

John R. Lausch, Jr., the US attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Kathy A. Enstrom, the IRS Investigation Division of Chicago’s Special Agent-in-Charge, announced the sentences of the husband and wife. Kalia Coleman, an assistant US attorney, argued in the court, “Without the compliance of taxpayers with our country’s tax laws, the federal government would essentially cease to function.”

Kalia said that it was the responsibility of the honest taxpayers to shoulder a disproportionate amount of the tax burden. According to the court documents, Liggins III and Williams-Liggins pleaded guilty in the court earlier this year. They pleaded guilty for one count of fire fraud and one count of identity theft, the court documents stated.

Both of them accepted in a written plea agreement that they acquired the personal information of at least 10 people without their knowledge. The personal information included their names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth. The couple used this information in filing fake federal tax returns in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. The court document stated that the couple received at least $331154 from the IRS in the bank accounts controlled by them.