Rashia Wilson Sentenced to 21 Years in Jail, Facebook Page Proclaimed Herself Tampa's 'Queen Of IRS Tax Fraud'
Apparently, being the queen just isn't all it's cracked up to be. Rashia Wilson, the self-described "queen of IRS tax fraud" was sentenced to 21 years in jail Tuesday for her role in a massive tax fraud operation in Tampa, Fla.
Ironically enough, what may have done Wilson in is her own inability to not incriminate herself. In a puzzling move that stinks of an ego gone wild, the 27-year-old took to Facebook to declare just how much power she wielded in southern Florida.
"I'm Rashia, the queen of IRS tax fraud," a post of hers on the social networking site stated. "I'm a millionaire for the record, so if U think indicting me will B easy it won't, I promise you! U need more than black and white to hold me down N that's to da rat who went N told, as if 1st lady don't have da TPD under her spell. I run Tampa right now."
While that post was certainly a damning one, the Tampa Police Department was already aware that something fishy was up in the area. They had noticed that there had been a major dip in the sale of illicit drugs on Tampa's streets, and concluded that criminals must be finding more lucrative ways of getting paid.
Soon they were hot on the tail of Rashia Wilson, who was anything but cautious about the kind of lifestyle she lived. She eagerly doled out money as fast as she could make it, spending $30,000 on one of her children's birthdays and $90,000 on a new car, which has since been impounded.
"She knew what she was doing was wrong. She reveled in the fact that it was wrong," U.S. District Judge James. S. Moody Jr. said.
Wilson's fast life eventually caught up with her, and she was arrested by authorities on charges of committing millions of dollars in tax fraud. Though she eventually agreed to a plea deal that only admitted to $3 million in gains, police now believe that her profits from the scheme could have totaled upwards of $30 million. She has personally admitted to having gained at least $20 million from her operation.
Another factor that may have led to Wilson's risky behavior and erratic confessions of guilt comes from the fact that reports say she has suffered from mental disorders. Her defense attorney claimed that she was a crack baby born to a crack-addicted mother, leading to one psychologist's evaluation of her having bipolar disorder.
Wilson recruited various associates in and around the Tampa area to help her carry out her scheme. They would steal the social security numbers of various unwitting residents and file false tax returns, collecting the money due to those people. Though their victims would all eventually get their returns, it would sometimes take upwards of a year, and the cost would inevitably fall on the government.
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