IRS employee sentenced for false returns

A former IRS employee was sentenced to six months' house arrest and three years' probation for helping her friends and neighbors file inflated tax returns and then pocketing part of the proceeds.

A federal jury convicted Sherelle Pratt, 42, of Philadelphia, in December on multiple counts including filing false tax returns and theft of government property. Prosecutors said she bilked the government out of more than $17,000 it was owed between 2007 and 2009 by pushing clients to claim dependents and child-care and business expenses for which they were not eligible.

In one case, Pratt filed for a $3,524 return on behalf of a neighbor without the woman's knowledge. At the time, the woman could not afford to pay her own heating bills while Pratt deposited the entire refund in her own account.

In addition to her confinement, U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe ordered her to pay $3,524 in restitution. - Jeremy Roebuck