4 Sentenced for Roles in Income Tax Fraud

Four people, including three San Fernando Valley residents, were sentenced Thursday for defrauding the U.S. government out of about $1 million by filing bogus income tax returns by computer, prosecutors said.

Sheila Green and Doris Martin of Van Nuys, Chissay White of Sylmar and Daphne Thomas of Los Angeles were sentenced in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by Judge Laughlin E. Waters. They re among eight defendants in the case, all of whom pleaded guilty.

Thomas, 32, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service for using her position as a tax preparer at an H & R Block office in Van Nuys to file false income tax returns electronically.

White, 26, was sentenced to 20 months in prison and ordered to pay $10,000 in fines and restitution to the IRS for recruiting others to file false income tax returns. Green was sentenced to eight months in prison and fined $61,000. Martin, 41, also known as Doris Wheeler, was sentenced to eight months in federal prison and ordered to pay $10,000.