RALEIGH – A Hickory woman pleaded guilty today in Wake County District Court to felony tax charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

Deloris A. Sanders, 47, of Hickory, pleaded guilty on Nov. 4, 2004 to one count of obtaining property by false pretenses and one count of aiding or assisting in the preparation of fraudulent income tax returns.

Wake County District Court Judge Shelley Desvousges sentenced Sanders to a six-month minimum, eight-month maximum prison term. The sentence was suspended and Sanders was placed on supervised probation for 36 months. Sanders was also ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and must pay a $500 criminal fine. Also as a condition of her suspended sentence, Sanders must serve one weekend in the Wake County jail.

The state’s evidence showed that Sanders prepared a fraudulent wage and tax statement for herself and another employee of Family & Community Enrichment Development Inc. for the 2003 tax year. Sanders prepared both W-2 forms showing North Carolina income taxes although no state taxes were actually withheld from their wages. Sanders then electronically filed fictitious state tax returns based on the fraudulent W-2 forms in an attempt to receive larger tax refunds than they were legally entitled to receive.

The charges against Sanders resulted from an investigation by a special agent with the Department’s Criminal Investigations Division.

Last modified on: 10/31/07 03:44:12 PM .