St. Croix Woman Convicted by Jury in Tax Fraud Scheme Sentenced to 3.75 Years in Federal Prison

ST. CROIX — United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced  Monday that Jacinta Gussie, age 59 of St. Croix was sentenced on November 12 by Federal District Court Judge Wilma A. Lewis to 3.75 years in prison for her part in a complex tax fraud scheme. Gussie must also serve a period of three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $44, 561.11 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. Gussie was found guilty by a federal jury on June 15, 2021 after a six-day trial of Conspiracy to Defraud the United States; four counts of Theft of Government Money; and two counts of aggravated identity theft. According to court documents and evidence presented at the trial, from January 2011 to July 2012, Jacinta Gussie and others participated in a scheme to steal money from the United States Treasury by fraudulently obtaining federal income tax refunds. The scheme involved the acquisition of personal identifying information of Virgin Islanders (i.e. name, social security nu...