Florida woman sentenced for $3.4 million tax scheme after more than 8 years on the run

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Judy Grace Sellers, of Chipley, has been sentenced to nine years in prison for a $3.4 million tax fraud scheme, filing a false lien, and running away while on bond, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.

Evidence shows Sellers operated a website in 2008 and 2009 where she promoted the use of an IRS Form to commit tax fraud.

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She “identified as a ‘sovereign citizen’ and perpetuated the false premise that the U.S. Treasury maintains secret accounts attributed to every U.S. citizen that can be drawn on by filing a series of bogus documents with the Treasury and other government entities,” the U.S. State Attorney’s Office explained in a news release Wednesday.

The FBI defines a “sovereign citizen” as someone who believes they are separate from the U.S. even though they live in the country. These people often believe they don’t have to answer to government authority, including courts, tax entities, or law enforcement.

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Sellers’ scheme led to the submission of at least 22 tax returns requesting fraudulent refunds totaling at least $3.4 million.

In 2011, she filed a false lien against the then-U.S. Attorney and a Department of Justice tax attorney leading a civil action to stop her from promoting the fraud scheme.

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Sellers was arrested in 2014 for tax fraud and filing a false lien. In January 2015, she cut her house arrest ankle monitor off after getting permission to get her hair done in preparation for a pretrial hearing, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.

She was found more than eight and a half years later in New Mexico.

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