Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 3-3-17

Features
Foster Mother Charged With Murder Of Infant
Awaiting Sentencing:
Mother, 2 Sons Plead Guilty To Tax Fraud
A 43-year-old woman has been arrested and charged in the death of a foster child in her care. She is being held at the Hillsborough County Jail without bond.
According to police, Ms. Latamara Stackhouse Flythe was caring for Aedyn Agminalis in December 2016. The 17-month-old was rushed to the hospital on De- cember 4th because he was choking incident. He was re- leased on December 7th, but was returned to the hospital on the same day.
Ms. Flythe told investi- gators that he had suffered a seizure and was unrespon- sive. He died on December 11th, after being removed from life-support.
The Department of Chil- dren and Families had opened an investigation into the choking incident in De- cember. After the Hillsbor- ough County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy, they reported
LATAMARA STACKHOUSE FLYTHE
that the child had sustained trauma to his head that re- sulted in bleeding inside his brain. The injury would have reportedly been inflicted.
Ms. Flythe denied harm- ing the child, although she admitted she was the only person with him during the time period the Medical Ex- aminer believes the injury was inflicted.
The child had been cleared for adoption at the time of his death.
A Tampa mother and her two sons are awaiting sen- tencing for filing false federal income tax returns. They have all entered plea agreements with the U. S. Middle District of Florida.
Ms. Elise Ellis, 53, and her sons, Paul Johnson, 26, and Keith Godbolt, 36, were indicted by the Grand Jury conspiracy, wire fraud, theft of government funds, and aggra- vated identity theft in August 2016.
Johnson and Godbolt pleaded guilty to conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. They are scheduled for sen- tencing on Monday, March 6th.
Ms. Ellis pleaded guilty to conspiracy. She is scheduled for sentencing on March 20th.
According to court docu- ments, the illegal activity began as early as August 2011 and continued until April 2013.
The plea agreement of Johnson and Godbolt stated that they conspired with others to commit wire fraud, theft of government property and identity theft by filing fraudulent tax returns in the names of other people.
Once the returns were ac- cepted by the IRS, the returns electronically deposited into bank accounts in the names of
KEITH GODBOLT
... To be sentenced March 6
the defendants at PNC, Wells Fargo, and SunTrust banks where they had accounts.
Officials said the proceeds were split between the co-con- spirators by writing checks or otherwise transferring the money or cash withdrawals.
In one case, a false tax re- turn was filed in the name of an individual who allegedly lived in New Jersey and whose occupation was that of a Chef. The IRS issued a refund in that person’s name for $9,080. The money was de- posited into an account in the names of Godbolt and Ms. Ellis. Funds were deposited
in accounts in the names of Johnson and Ms. Ellis as well.
Ms. Ellis admitted to al- lowing her sons to use bank accounts opened in their names and joint accounts opened in her name and that of her sons.
She is also accused of al- lowing Johnson to use her IP address via wifi to file fraudu- lent returns.
The funds were withdrawn via ATMs and through pur- chases, within days of the de- posit, court documents showed.
Many of the people whose names were used to file the fraudulent income tax returns were dead. The other people were not aware that returns had been filed in their names and had not given anyone per- mission to do so, officials said.
Investigators said during the course of the conspiracy, the defendants filed at least 125 false tax returns for 2011 claiming approximately $977,000. They received ap- proximately $221,000, offi- cials said.
FYI
Judicial Positions Open In 13th Circuit Court
The Thirteenth Circuit Judicial Nominating Com- mission announced they are accepting applications for two vacancies. The vacancies came about with the resigna- tions of Judge Brenda “Tracy” Sheehan and Judge William P. Lev- ens.
Applicants must submit a fully completed original and one copy of the application, along with a photograph at- tached to the original and to the copy. The applications must be sent to Andrew J. Mayts, GrayRobinson,
P. A. 401 E. Jackson Street, Tampa, FL 33602, no later than 5 p.m., on March 9, 2017. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
A list of members of the Thirteenth Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission is available from the Florida Bar’s website. Questions can be directed to Andrew J. Mayts, Jr., Chairman, Thir- teenth Circuit Judicial Nom- inating Commission at (813) 273-5188 or andy.mayts@gray-robin- son.com.
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