ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - A California man has been sentenced to prison for attempting to steal more than $1 million in tax refund checks in Virginia and Pennsylvania.

A release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia says 42-year-old Kefvon Keffen Baker was part of a nationwide bank fraud conspiracy based in Los Angeles in which people stole U.S. Treasury refund checks, opened bank accounts under those taxpayers’ identities, deposited the checks and withdrew money. Baker was sentenced to more than five years in prison Friday on conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.

Prosecutors said Baker tried to steal the sum in just one month of activity in the area.

The Leesburg Police Department, Arlington County Police Department and the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office helped investigate.

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