Scheme to collect false back taxes results in prison term for Jeannette man

A Jeannette man will spend 33 months in a federal prison in connection with his role in a scheme in which participants impersonated IRS officials who demanded immediate payment of fake back taxes.

Ronnell Taylor, 41, of Jeannette, also was ordered to spend two years on supervised release after the prison term on a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Prosecutors said in court filings that those targeted by the scheme lost $550,235. They received pre-recorded phone calls from United States-based numbers about false back taxes and were directed to call a number to make a payment. Taylor activated cell phones and worked with two others to program them so incoming calls would be directed to call centers in India.

Call takers there requested payment in the form of gift cards or other means and threatened consequences, according to prosecutors. The scheme happened for about 18 months between 2016 and 2017.

Prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum that Taylor has a supportive family and legitimate career, leading them to believe it was greed that pushed him toward crime. He pleaded guilty in September 2022.

“Here, the defendant made the conscious, deliberate choice to engage in criminal activity not once, but time and again, and in doing so, caused substantial harm to real victims,” prosecutors said in the memorandum.

Taylor was ordered to pay $193,000 restitution to 27 victims.

Defense attorney Patrick Thomassey requested a shorter sentence.

“… Mr. Taylor has had much opportunity to reflect on and consider the impact his actions have had upon himself, his family and the community,” Thomassey wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “He is committed to working hard to become a better person and a law-abiding citizen.”