A former bail bondsman in Dothan, Alabama, was sentenced yesterday to serve 51 months in prison for his involvement in a stolen identity tax refund fraud (SIRF) scheme, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Larry J. Wszalek for the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney George L. Beck Jr. for the Middle District of Alabama announced.

Roderick Neal was also ordered to pay $109,480 in restitution and to serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence.

According to court documents and evidence from the trial of his co-conspirator, Nina Macena, Neal provided stolen identities to Ivory Bolen, also of Dothan, who used the identities to file false tax returns that fraudulently requested refunds from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Bolen would attempt to have the refunds deposited onto prepaid debit cards, which would be mailed to addresses controlled by Bolen and Macena. Macena obtained the identities from Neal, who had access to the personal information of individuals who had been detained at the Dothan City Jail. Altogether, Bolen filed tax returns claiming more than $300,000 in refunds using the identities that Neal stole from his employer, but the IRS was able to successfully stop a number of the fraudulent returns.

Bolen was sentenced to serve 48 months in prison and Macena was sentenced to serve 34 months in prison.

This case was investigated by special agents of the IRS-Criminal Investigation. Trial Attorneys Jason Poole, Charles M. Edgar Jr. and Michael Boteler of the Tax Division prosecuted the case with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama.