A Springfield man pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to bank fraud conspiracy and tax fraud.
Max Snodgrass pleaded in two separate cases. The bank fraud conspiracy case involved false identification used to pass more than $100,000 in counterfeit checks, while the tax fraud involved filing fraudulent tax returns to receive extra refunds.
Snodgrass admitted to stealing checking account information and personal identification information from multiple victims between April 13 and Nov. 29, 2008, using the information to create counterfeit IDs and checks. Some of those checks were drawn on actual checking accounts, including one belonging to the Greene County Sheriff's Office, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri.
Snodgrass also admitted to using his computer to create false W-2 forms for a sham business, claiming earnings and withholdings for employees who didn't work for the business. He and others took the forms to tax preparers and electronically filed false tax returns to receive refunds totaling more than $10,000.
Snodgrass faces up to 40 years in federal prison without parole, plus restitution and a fine of up to $1.25 million. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.
