Page 3 - 6-28-16 Tuesday's Edition

Features
Man Must Pay Back $637,621 For Tax Fraud Scheme
A 34-year-old Tampa man has pleaded guilty to mail fraud, conspir- acy, and aggravated identity theft. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for mail fraud, up to 5 years in prison on the conspiracy charge, and a mandatory consecutive 2-year prison term on the identity theft charge.
As the result of a plea agreement, Cedric Clark, of Tampa, pleaded guilty to one count mail fraud, one count conspiracy, and one count ag- gravated identity theft. A sentencing date has not been set.
According to the plea agreement, between October 2010 and June 2013, Clark engaged in a fraud scheme with individuals who had ob- tained the personal identification in- formation of more than 1,158 individuals.
The suspects are said to have used that information to file fraudulent in- come tax returns in the names of the victims.
Officials said Clark controlled a post office box, where many of the re- fund checks were mailed. He also con- trolled numerous bank accounts at
CEDRIC CLARK
various financial institutions where the Internal Revenue Service had wired tax refunds. The Internal Rev- enue Service paid a total of $637,621.62 to accounts under Clark’s control.
Officials said the conspirators had filed several fraudulent income tax re- funds. However, several of them were rejected.
Woman Sitting In Car Killed By Stray Bullet
A 57-year-old Tampa woman died after being struck by a stray bullet. The shooting took place last Thursday night.
According to Tampa Police, Ms. Maria J. Rivera-Contreras, of 2807 N. Jefferson Street, was a pas- senger in a vehicle in the area of Columbus Drive and Jefferson around 9:45 p.m. As the vehicle was backing out to proceed onto Columbus Drive, Ms. Rivera-Contreras was struck by gunfire.
She was transported to a local hos- pital, where she was pronounced dead.
During the investigation, police learned that there was an ongoing dis- pute between two groups of youth who live in the area. At the time of the shooting, a teenager on a bicycle rode by.
It is believed that the bullet that struck Ms. Rivera-Contreras was intended to strike the unidentified teenager on the bicycle.
The investigation is continuing, but no arrests have been made.
Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay is offering a reward of up to $3,000 for information that leads to the identifi- cation and arrest of the suspects in- volved in this murder.
Anyone with information pertain- ing to the case is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS (8477). Individuals may also report anonymously online at www.crimestopperstb.com, or send a mobile tip using the P3 Tips Mobile application.
Crime Stoppers must be contacted first in order to be eligible for a cash reward.
MS. MARIA J. RIVERA-CONTRERAS
TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3