The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance today announced the sentencing of two Florida men who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and identity theft charges. Dgeff Francois Mirville, 28, was sentenced to 39 months in prison, and Ricky Jacques, 28, was sentenced to 40 months in prison. Both men perpetrated these crimes against New Yorkers from their home in Miami, Florida.

“This case shows the heavy price criminals will pay when they steal a taxpayer’s personal information,” said Acting Commissioner Nonie Manion. “We’ll go to great lengths to bring identity thieves to justice.”

Manion said the stiff sentencing also showcases the Tax Department’s ability to reach across state lines to work with other agencies to get a conviction. In this case, the Tax Department partnered with the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and the United States Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General.

In June 2015, a taxpayer contacted the Tax Department after receiving a confirmation letter to report that an Online Services (OLS) account had been opened in his name without his authorization. (To verify an OLS account, the Tax Department always mails a confirmation letter to the taxpayer as an additional layer of security to help the Tax Department identify potential fraud.)

The Tax Department quickly identified other new OLS accounts with similar characteristics and was able to shut down those accounts within hours.

The fraudsters had also repeatedly contacted the Tax Department call center in Albany. Investigators were able to listen to the recordings and crack the fraud scheme. They traced the calls and computer traffic used to create the false OLS accounts to the exact location where Mirville and Jacques were operating. This provided sufficient evidence to support issuance of a search warrant.

In August of 2015, a search warrant was executed at Jacques’ and Mirville’s residence. Tax Department investigators recovered electronic devices during the execution of the search warrant. Forensic analysis by the Tax Department’s Office of Internal Affairs found evidence of the crimes on those devices.

If you are or believe you may be a victim of tax-related identity theft, alert the Tax Department immediately. It will track your information to help keep it private and protected. You can report identity theft on the Tax Department Report Fraud web page.