Fraudulent Tax Preparer Captured In Indiana, Sentenced To 46 Months
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Minneapolis woman who pleaded guilty to 17 counts of tax crimes was finally captured in Indiana after nearly a month on the run and sentenced to 46 months in prison, according to a statement from the Hennepin County Attorney's office.
Prosecutors say Rona Griffin's case begin in 2013 when agents from the Minnesota Department of Revenue began investigating her tax preparation business. Eventually, she was charged with 53 counts of tax crimes, including failure to file her own tax returns.
In January, Griffin pleaded guilty to 17 counts and admitted to forging documents, abusing a position of trust and filing a false letter to the Department of Revenue claiming she didn't have income beyond child support and social security, though investigators later determined her annual income was between $150,000 and $200,000.
Prosecutors say those circumstances would likely lead to more time in prison, and her sentencing date was set for April 7. On March 28, the count attorney's office says they received information that Griffin was preparing to flee. When she didn't show up for a court date on April 1, a judge issued a warrant for her arrest.
Eventually, investigators tracked her down to a pharmacy in Anderson, Indiana where she was arrested on April 21. They also determined that she had signed a lease for a house in the town under the names of clients she had cheated.
Griffin declined to say anything at her sentencing.