Former Tampa police sergeant sentenced to prison for tax fraud

A former sergeant in the Tampa Police Department has been sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for acquiring nearly $300,000 through fraudulent tax returns, Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announced Wednesday.

LaJoyce Caldwell Houston, 51, pleaded guilty to the charges Aug. 23. Prosecutors say that during her time with Tampa police in 2011 and 2012, she used “fraudulently obtained tax refunds” to obtain goods, services, money orders and cash.

According to court documents, Houston worked with co-conspirator Rita Girven. Houston used the ill-gotten money to purchase a pool pump system for her home, computers, jewelry, appliances and more, prosecutors said.

In January 2012, Houston also used her role within the department to obtain the personally identifiable information of five individuals. She then passed that information to Girven to file fraudulent tax returns, according to court documents.

Houston received an estimated $284,490.41 from the falsified tax returns and purchased more than $150,000 worth of goods with the money she received. She has been ordered to pay $61,660.52 in restitution.

Houston’s husband, Eric, pleaded guilty to receiving stolen government property March 31 and was sentenced to six months in prison. Girven pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft March 16, 2015, and was sentenced to 12 years in prison Nov. 20, 2015.

The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation unit and the Tampa Police Department.

This story was originally published December 13, 2017 at 10:22 PM with the headline "Former Tampa police sergeant sentenced to prison for tax fraud."