Orlando, FL – U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza today sentenced Trayone Lefferio Bell (42, Titusville) to 14 years and 6 months years in federal prison for one count of fraudulent possession of access devices, two counts of theft of government money, and three counts of aggravated identity theft. As part of his sentence, the Court also entered a money judgment in the amount of $266,769, and ordered him to pay $823,797 in restitution.
A federal jury found Bell guilty on October 11, 2017.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Bell possessed the stolen names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers of hundreds of victims. He then used that information to file false federal tax returns and requested that the refunds be issued via prepaid debit cards in the victims’ names. Bell obtained more than 100 such cards and used them to make a series of large cash withdrawals and purchases.
This case was investigated by the St. Cloud Internal Revenue Service-Secret Service Financial Crimes Task Force, which includes the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation; the U.S. Secret Service; the St. Cloud Police Department; the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office; the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office; the Palm Bay Police Department; the Casselberry Police Department; the Kissimmee Police Department; the Winter Park Police Department; and the Maitland Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Emily C. L. Chang.
--DOJ Middle District of Florida