A state prison inmate pleaded guilty in federal court today to a tax refund scheme. Forty-five year old Kevin Dunham is an inmate at the Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron.

Dunham pleaded guilty to a charge contained in a February 21st federal indictment. Dunham admitted that he prepared false tax returns for inmates in 2008 and 2009 while he was incarcerated at the Farmington Correctional Center and at the Western Missouri Correctional Center.

Dunham obtained inmate names and Social Security numbers and created false Form 1040EZs. Dunham also prepared false Form W2s on a typewriter he had in his cell, and filed those false Form W2s along with the false Form 1040EZs, which were handwritten. The returns were mailed to inmate's families outside the prison, who forwarded them to the I-R-S.

Refund checks were then sent to the inmate's families, who divided the money between themselves, the inmates, and Dunham.

Dunham received approximately $200 to $300 per return which was paid to his mother. She then deposited some of the money into his prison account. The federal indictment claims Dunham filed false tax returns for over 139 thousand dollars in false claims. The I-R-S actually paid nearly 55 thousand dollars in fraudulent refunds.

Under federal statutes, Dunham is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal
prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution.

A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a pre-sentence investigation by
the U-S Probation Office.