Texas preparer sentenced after filing 610 false returns worth $1.2 million in bogus refunds
Karistha Johnson, a paid tax preparer in Tyler, Texas, prepared and filed 610 false federal tax returns between 2017 and 2019, fabricating deductions and business expenses to generate $1,244,934 in fraudulent refunds. She pleaded guilty to making false and fraudulent statements on tax returns and was sentenced in April 2025 to 24 months in federal prison, with restitution ordered for the full amount.
- Year
- 2025
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Reported loss
- $1.2 million
- Victims
- 610
- Schemes
- Fraudulent tax preparers
- Last reviewed
- 2026-09-11
The facts, as recorded
- Johnson operated as a paid federal income tax return preparer in Tyler, Texas, within the Eastern District of Texas.
- Between 2017 and 2019 she prepared and filed 610 false tax returns for clients, using fabricated deductions and business expenses to inflate the refunds she generated.
- The false returns generated $1,244,934 in fraudulent refunds — an average of roughly $2,041 per return.
- Johnson pleaded guilty to making false and fraudulent statements on tax returns.
- She was sentenced on 15 April 2025 to 24 months in federal prison, with restitution ordered for the full $1,244,934.
- Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr.: "Schemes like this threaten to disrupt the orderly administration of the income tax system for law-abiding taxpayers."
Why this case matters
This is the clearest single-preparer, single-district case on this page, and the one with the most precise per-return numbers: 610 false returns, $1,244,934 in fraudulent refunds, an average of about $2,041 per return — a useful, sourced yardstick for what one preparer’s fraud costs per client return, even though the government, not any individual client, was the party the restitution order names as owed.
A three-year pattern, not a single mistake
Filing 610 false returns across three tax years is not a one-off error. The volume is what moved this from an isolated bad return to a prosecutable scheme, and it is the same pattern — repetition at scale — that runs through every case on this page.
The caveat
This is a concluded case. Johnson pleaded guilty and was sentenced by a federal judge; the facts above are drawn from the IRS’s own published account of the plea and sentencing, not unproven allegations.
Sources
- Tyler tax preparer sentenced to federal prison for role in tax refund fraud scheme. US Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. Accessed 2026-09-11. Supports: Johnson's name, location, the 2017–2019 period, the 610 false returns, the $1,244,934 fraudulent-refund total, the guilty plea, the 24-month sentence, the restitution order, and the Abe McGlothin Jr. quote.