A former Hayward man was sentenced to three years in federal prison on Tuesday for filing fraudulent tax returns by using personal identifying information from people who were transient, homeless or incarcerated with him.
Brandon Jones, 44, pleaded guilty on June 12 to conspiracy to file false claims and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White on Tuesday.
In his plea agreement, Jones admitted he conspired to file 94 fraudulent tax returns, each of which sought payment of a tax refund from the Internal Revenue Service.
Federal prosecutors said Jones admitted that to file the false returns, he obtained personal identifying information from people who were transient, homeless or incarcerated with him.
Jones was incarcerated at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin in 2011 and at the California State Hospital Prison in Patton in San Bernardino County in 2012.
A federal grand jury indicted Jones on Jan. 19, 2017, charging him with conspiracy to file false claims, filing false claims, theft of government property and aggravated identity theft.
But Jones only pleaded guilty to the conspiracy count and the other counts were dismissed at his sentencing hearing.
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In addition to sentencing Jones to three years in federal prison, White ordered him to pay $109,395 in restitution and imposed a three-year period of supervised release after he completes his prison term.
White has been in federal custody since April 21, 2017, and will remain in custody to serve the rest of his sentence.
