A Suitland woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy for filing false income tax returns on behalf of state prison inmates, a scheme that resulted in an Internal Revenue Service loss of $365,599.
According to the plea agreement, 43-year-old Karen Woodard was in touch with an inmate, Rico Marzano, and agreed to help him with his tax preparation scheme.
From 2004 to 2007, she filed and distributed fraudulent returns to prisoners using the false names “K. King” and “Bo.”
Woodard and Marzano discussed the plot through numerous phone calls and letters. Woodard also tried unsuccessfully to recruit a friend to assist in the deception.
Woodard was responsible for between $70,000 and $120,000 of the tax loss, according to her plea agreement. She faces a maximum 10-year prison sentence.
Marzano, 67, and Melanie Taylor, 34, of La Plata, pleaded guilty earlier as co-defendants to the conspiracy.
