Detroit woman sentenced to 4 1/2 years for tax fraud scheme

DETROIT (AP) — A federal judge has sentenced a Detroit woman to more than four years in prison for her role in a scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and six states out of about $28 million in tax returns.

U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison’s office announced Friday that U.S. District Judge Linda Parker sentenced 42-year-old Sameerah Marrell to four-and-a-half years behind bars and three years on supervised release.

Ison’s office said Marrell pleaded guilty on Jan 23 to mail fraud, wire fraud and committing an offense on bond.

According to court records, Marrell and accomplices filed false claims for income tax refunds with the IRS and the Minnesota, Georgia, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut and Colorado state treasuries between 2014 and 2022. The claims sought about $13.7 million from the IRS and about $14.7 million from the states.

The IRS and the states paid out about $8.5 million combined before the claims before the claims were discovered to be fraudulent. Ison’s office said Marrell continued to file false claims even after she was arrested.