Officials: Rockville Centre Identity Thief Gets Prison Sentence

A Rockville Centre woman will spend up to three years in prison for filing hundreds of fake income tax returns amounting to more than $500,000 of stolen money, according to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.

Susan Pemberton, 43, was pleaded guilty to third-degree grand larceny, first-degree scheme to defraud, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, and second-degree identity theft. She was sentenced Wednesday to serve up to three years in state prison.

Officials said Pemberton, sometimes using the alias “Susan Williams,” concocted a scheme over several years to file more than 250 false NYS personal income tax returns across 30 states by using stolen identities and fake W-2s.

The proceeds of the scheme amounted to more than $500,000 in stolen tax refunds, officials said. Read more about Pemberton’s 2012 arrest here.

“This sentencing should act as a reminder to all New Yorkers – protect your personal information vigorously,” Department Commissioner Thomas H. Mattox said.  “I thank District Attorney Kathleen Rice and her team for their outstanding effort and diligence in prosecuting this very complicated case.”

Pemberton was one of three co-defendants to be sentenced for placing fake ads on Craigslist for fake jobs and apartments. She, along with Keith Campbell, 53, of Brooklyn, and Cynthia Sibert, 24, of Roslyn, used fake applications to steal personal information from their victims to use for fraudulent bank loans and credit cards.

Sibert pleaded guilty to 40 felonies and was sentenced to up to four years in jail as well as being ordered to pay $61,089 in restitution. Her battery of felonies included criminal possession of stolen property, grand larceny, scheme to defraud, identity theft, offering a false instrument for filing, and more.

Campbell pleaded guilty to fifth-degree conspiracy and was sentenced to a conditional discharge and payment of $11,221 in restitution.