(NEW ORLEANS)---An Amite woman has been sentenced by a New Orleans federal judge in connection with a case where she allegedly prepared fraudulent tax returns totaling more than $117,800 for several taxpayers, according to the U. S. Attorney's Office.

U. S. Attorney Jim Letten reports that 56-year-old Elaine Mitchell was sentenced to five months of incarceration, five months of home detention, three years of supervised release, restitution payments totaling $77,092, and a $100 special assessment for making false claims against the government.

Letten says that court documents indicate that the IRS received numerous questionable tax returns reporting false income from "household wages", all from a small geographic area. Letten says that the investigation led agents to determine that Mitchell prepared the returns listing the work performed, the employer, and the amount of money allegedly earned, even though the taxpayers apparently did not perform the reported work.

Letten says that the false claims totaled $117,829, with the government paying out some $77,092 before the alleged scheme was discovered.

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