A man with around $18,000 in annual income who received a nearly $1 million check from the federal government has been sentenced to about three years in prison.Ramon C. Blanchett, 29, of Tampa, Florida, a part-time DJ and community college student, pleaded guilty to theft of government funds last fall, the Tampa Bay Times reported Thursday.Blanchett filed a 2016 tax form that claimed around $18,000 in wage income, a state and local income tax deduction of $47,000 and an income tax withholding credit of $1 million, according to a court document.The government sent him a $980,000 check in 2017 and later switched the money from a SunTrust Bank (which notified the IRS) to a credit union in Tampa, Florida. At that time, he said it represented an inheritance from his father’s estate, according to a court document.Later, he filed a 2017 tax form claiming nearly $17,000 in wage income and a $26,000 refund.He also purchased a 2016 Lexus RC350 in August 2018 for nearly $52,000 at a dealership.After IRS agents advised him in September 2018 he was subject to a criminal investigation for his 2016 income tax return and served him a letter about the issue that December, he filed a tax return claiming $980,000 in wage income while requesting a nearly $466,000 refund, according to the government.

A man with around $18,000 in annual income who received a nearly $1 million check from the federal government has been sentenced to about three years in prison.



Ramon C. Blanchett, 29, of Tampa, Florida, a part-time DJ and community college student, pleaded guilty to theft of government funds last fall, the Tampa Bay Times reported Thursday.


Blanchett filed a 2016 tax form that claimed around $18,000 in wage income, a state and local income tax deduction of $47,000 and an income tax withholding credit of $1 million, according to a court document.



The government sent him a $980,000 check in 2017 and later switched the money from a SunTrust Bank (which notified the IRS) to a credit union in Tampa, Florida. At that time, he said it represented an inheritance from his father’s estate, according to a court document.

Later, he filed a 2017 tax form claiming nearly $17,000 in wage income and a $26,000 refund.



He also purchased a 2016 Lexus RC350 in August 2018 for nearly $52,000 at a dealership.

After IRS agents advised him in September 2018 he was subject to a criminal investigation for his 2016 income tax return and served him a letter about the issue that December, he filed a tax return claiming $980,000 in wage income while requesting a nearly $466,000 refund, according to the government.