Thirteen defendants were sentenced this week for their roles in a tax fraud scheme that stole nearly $300,000 from the IRS.
Ringleader Cherie Dupuis, 43, of Springfield, was sentenced Feb. 29 to two years and nine months in federal prison without parole and ordered to pay $272,819 in restitution. Seven of her co-conspirators also were sentenced Monday, followed by the sentencing of the other five yesterday, according to a news release from the office of Tammy Dickinson, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
The other defendants and their sentences were:
• Amanda Leigh Boyd, 34, of Springfield, six months in prison, $29,409 in restitution;
• Asia Couchman, 26, of Oak Grove, five years of probation, $9,456 in restitution;
• Claudia Dorsey, 34, of Springfield, five years of probation, $27,791 in restitution;
• Delbert Allen, 37, of Pleasant Hope and formerly of Springfield, five months in prison, $4,541 in restitution;
• Heather Drennen, 32, of Cameron and formerly of Springfield, five years of probation, $5,203 in restitution;
• Jeannette Dunn, 48, of Huntsville, Ark., and formerly of Springfield, two months in prison, $10,430 in restitution;
• Jeannie Rhodes, 34, of Springfield, five years of probation, $6,881 in restitution;
• Johnny Cooper, 28, of Springfield, seven months in prison, $10,100 in restitution;
• Lisa DeHaven, 35, of Springfield, $19,791 in restitution;
• Shawna Hughey, 37, of Joplin and formerly of Springfield, six months in prison, $22,626 in restitution;
• Travis Ashmead, 30, of Springfield, 10 months in prison, $9,906 in restitution; and
• William Coonce, 29, of Otterville, four months in prison, $15,750 in restitution.
From February 2009 to March 2012, Dupuis and her co-conspirators filed fraudulent tax returns claiming $340,630 in refunds from the IRS, resulting in the agency losing $284,169, according to the release.
Dupuis used tax preparation software platform TaxAct.com on her laptop, a co-conspirator’s laptop and at public library computers to prepare false income tax returns using the names and Social Security numbers of recruited individuals. Dupuis filed returns in her own name and for at least 19 others, and she would split the refunds with co-conspirators.
