Man Sentenced in Income Tax Refund Scheme

Federal prosecutors in New Jersey say a New York City man has been sentenced to 34 months in prison for conspiring with others to fraudulently obtain and cash more than $1.2 million in federal and state income tax refund checks.

Forty-two-year-old Amaury Mercedes del Orbe of the Bronx also must serve three years of supervised release once he's freed. He'll also have to pay nearly $1.4 in restitution as part of the sentence imposed Tuesday.

Mercedes del Orbe had previously pleaded guilty to a complaint charging him with conspiracy to defraud the United States.

He admitted being part of a conspiracy in which participants filed false returns using the personal information of others. They had the checks sent to addresses they controlled, then sought to cash them in New Jersey.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)