The last of three co-defendants indicted in an identity theft case involving a Roslyn woman was sentenced Wednesday.
Susan Pemberton, also known as Susan Williams, was sentenced to 1.5 to 3 years in state prison for her participation in a multi-year scam that involved the filing of more than 250 false New York State person income tax returns in 30 states using stolen identities and fake W-2s to apply for more than $500,000 in fraudulent refunds.
“This sentencing should act as a reminder to all New Yorkers – protect your personal information vigorously,” New York State Commissioner of Taxation and Finance Thomas Mattox said.
Pemberton, 43, of Rockville Centre, pleaded guilty to grand larceny, scheme to defraud, offering a false instrument for filing and identity theft. Today’s sentence will run concurrent with a federal sentence of 57 months in federal prison she received previously for filing false personal income tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service.
Along with 24-year-old Cynthia Sibert of Roslyn and 53-year-old Keith Campbell of Brooklyn, Pemberton placed fake ads on Craigslist for employment opportunities and apartment rentals that did not exist, sent their victims employment and rental applications that sought their name, address, birth date, and Social Security number, and used that information to file the fraudulent tax returns, and to obtain bank loans and credit cards in their victims’ names.
Campbell pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was sentenced to a conditional discharge and ordered to pay restitution of $11,221.
Sibert pleaded to 40 felonies, including criminal possession of stolen property, grand larceny, scheme to defraud, offering a false instrument for filing, identity theft, and criminal tax fraud. She was sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison and an additional year in prison, to run concurrently, for violating her probation. She also was ordered to pay $61,089 in restitution.
If you think you’re the victim of identity theft, visit the Department’s Web site at www.tax.ny.gov and complete an Identity Theft Declaration.
