Federal jury finds Patterson man guilty in tax fraud scheme

A federal jury found a Patterson man guilty Wednesday in a scheme to use stolen identities to file false tax returns and pocket refunds, U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley said in a news release.
Louis W. Carbins Jr., 36, of Patterson, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, seven counts of theft of government money and one count of aggravated identity theft. The three-day trial started Monday and ended today with the jury deliberating for 30 minutes.
U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell presided over the trial.
According to the testimony and evidence presented, from February 2013 to August 2013, Carbins and co-defendant Laphrida T. Watts, 39, of Morgan City, knew and allowed individuals from overseas to use stolen identities to file tax returns, Finley said.
The overseas individuals then directed the IRS to deposit the refunds into Carbins’ bank accounts. Carbins and Watts would then wire some of the money overseas and keep the rest. The IRS issued more than $815,000 in refunds to Carbins’ accounts. Carbins and Watts spent $45,681.22 of the funds,
Watts pleaded guilty Jan. 13 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of aggravated identity theft. She faces up to 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release for the conspiracy count and an additional two years in prison for the identity theft count, which will be served consecutive to the penalty imposed for the conspiracy count.
Carbins faces the same prison time as Watts in addition to time for the seven counts of government money theft. Each theft count carries a penalty of 10 years in prison. Carbins and Watts both also face three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Watts is scheduled to be sentenced June 28, and Carbins is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 29.