Four Rocky Mount women sentenced in tax-fraud case

Wilmington, N.C. — Four Rocky Mount women who worked for a tax service were sentenced Monday for their roles in an a 2004 case in which they made false claims to the Internal Revenue Service.

All four women pleaded guilty in September to conspiring to defraud the government and to filing false claims for work from January to April 2004 at Independent Tax Service. According to federal prosecutors, the women inflated wages and withholdings and listed false dependents on tax forms and sold fraudulent information to some clients so they would qualify for a larger refund.

Pamela D. Evans, 33, received 15 months in prison followed by three years of supervised relief. She must also pay $40,041 in restitution. Bertha Battle, 28, also received 15 months’ imprisonment and three years of probation and must pay $19,019 in restitution. Tasha Battle, 28, was sentenced to 180 days of house arrest and three years of supervised probation. Gwendolyn P. Evans, 49, was sentenced to a month in prison, followed by 150 days of house arrest and supervised probation. Tasha Battle must also pay $1,883 in restitution, and Evans must pay $7,549.