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Former corrections officer sent to prison for stealing inmate identities

 
Published Oct. 2, 2014

TAMPA — A former state correctional officer from Tampa has been sentenced to federal prison for more than four years for stealing the identity of inmates to file fraudulent tax returns.

Jerry St. Fleur, 26, was given four years and three months in prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He was also ordered to forfeit $61,704, which prosecutors said was traceable to the fraudulent tax refunds.

He pleaded guilty July 9. According to the plea, he began stealing identifies of current and former inmates from computer files in January 2011 while he served as a correctional officer at the Zephyrhills Correctional Institution.

St. Fleur filed about 182 fraudulent income tax returns. Prosecutor estimate he had tried to get refunds of more than $500,000.