A husband and wife from Joliet will serve federal prison time for stealing the identities of 10 people and swindling more than a million dollars in fraudulent tax refunds from the IRS.
Tillman Liggins III, 50, was sentenced in Chicago Tuesday to five years and four months in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
His wife, Chinita Williams-Liggins, 39, was sentenced in July to three and a half years, prosecutors said.
The couple were ordered to pay back the IRS $331,154 of stolen tax rebates after they pleaded guilty earlier this year to a count of wire fraud and a count of identity theft, prosecutors said.
In plea agreements, the couple admitted to stealing at least 10 people’s identity, and using that info to file false federal tax returns between 2011 and 2014, prosecutors said.
The U.S. attorney’s office said the pair filed at least 219 false tax returns and sought refunds totaling $1,323,793.
