Date: Nov. 4, 2024 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Roanoke, VA — A Roanoke woman who prepared and filed false tax returns for others, committed wire fraud, distributed fentanyl, and illegally sold firearms, was sentenced last week to 120 months in federal prison. Alisha Warrick, pled guilty in November 2023 to filing a false and fictitious claim against the United States, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, distribution of fentanyl, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. According to court documents, beginning in 2015 and continuing at least through 2019, Warrick prepared and filed tax returns for other individuals, and she deliberately included false and fraudulent information in the tax returns. As part of this scheme, Warrick would "boost" the tax returns she filed on behalf of other individuals by including false employment and wage information or false information about the named filer's dependents, or both. Warrick knew the information was false when she submitted the tax returns. Warrick also filed tax returns for certain individuals without their knowledge, and used those individuals' names and personal identifying information to file the tax returns. While on bond pending trial, Warrick arranged with a confidential informant to sell the informant heroin (which later testing showed to contain fentanyl), and two firearms, one of which was connected to a prior fatal shooting in the Roanoke area. United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanagh and Kareem Carter, Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Washington, D.C. Field Office made the announcement today. IRS-CI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Jones and Kelly McGann prosecuted the case. IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.
