Jackie Marie Peters, a 53-year-old resident of Mansfield, Texas, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison by United States District Judge G. Murray Snow. The sentencing on March 31, 2025, follows Peters's guilty plea to conspiracy to defraud. Following her prison term, she will undergo three years of supervised release.
The case involves Peters's participation with co-conspirators in hacking into an Arizona-based tax preparer firm's computer network from January 2020 to April 2022. They altered tax documents for over 40 individuals without their consent or the firm's knowledge. Peters managed to open 10 bank accounts at various banks to facilitate the scheme, enabling numerous fraudulent tax refunds based on the modified documents to be deposited into these accounts. She then transferred more than $2.5 million from these accounts to purchase cryptocurrency.
The investigation was led by the IRS Criminal Investigation Phoenix Field Office, while the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Arizona, Phoenix, managed the prosecution.