Thomas W. Richardson, a former Internal Revenue Service employee, has been sentenced to 105 months in prison for filing 29 individual tax returns for 2005 which claimed refunds of $7.9 million. Richardson, a resident of Mansfield, Texas, was also ordered to pay $30,649 in restitution.

He pleaded guilty in August to one count of theft of government property and one count of aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle commented during sentencing that Richardson had used inside knowledge of IRS operations to commit his crime. Richardson admitted that from April 15 through April 17 2006, he filed the 29 returns, each claiming a refund of between $215,801 and $473,832. Each return was filed for a husband and wife filing jointly with names matching the Social Security numbers assigned to those individuals. However, Richardson admitted that he utilized the names of 58 taxpayers without their authorization.

Seven refunds totaling $1.9 million were paid. However, all but $30,649 was recouped by the IRS.

According to local news coverage, Richardson worked with property, not directly with tax returns.