Date: February 3, 2022 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Greenbelt, Maryland — U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Devell Lincoln, of Washington, DC to five years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to commit theft of public money, theft of public money and aggravated identity theft. The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Darrell J. Waldon of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, DC Field Office; and Sally Luttrell, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations, U.S. Department of the Treasury - Office of Inspector General. According to court documents and the evidence introduced at trial, from 2011 to 2013, Devell Lincoln conspired with Stephanie Twyman and others to cash tax refund checks fraudulently obtained by filing false federal income tax returns in the names of other individuals with the IRS. In total, the conspirators cashed more than $500,000 in fraudulent refunds at a check-cashing business and Lincoln deposited more than $150,000 in fraudulent refunds using bank accounts under his control. From 2011 to 2013, false federal income tax returns were filed with the IRS using the names and Social Security numbers of unwitting taxpayers and seeking fraudulent refunds. When the refunds were received, Lincoln and his co-conspirators cashed the checks at a check-cashing business. In addition, from 2010 to 2014, Lincoln deposited fraudulent refunds into bank accounts under his control. While two of these accounts were in Lincoln's name, one bank account was held in the name of a third-party, who was deceased, and one was in the name of a company registered under the deceased person's name, with the deceased person as the signatory. United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Department of the Treasury - Office of Inspector General, and the Justice Department's Tax Division for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica C. Collins, who prosecuted the case.
