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Date: Sept. 23, 2026
Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov
Raleigh, NC – A federal judge sentenced Danielle Melissa Staten to over 2 years in federal prison and one year of supervised release for aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return. The Court also ordered Staten to pay $1,508,171 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
‘This is yet another example of crooks milking the system to simply defraud the hard-working taxpayers of this great country,” said U.S, Attorney Ellis Boyle. “This serves as a stark warning to those who think they can pad their pockets with stolen taxpayer dollars: we will find you, we will prosecute you, and a federal prison cell waits for you. Cheaters. Never. Win.”
Staten engaged in a scheme to prepare and file false and fraudulent federal income tax returns (Forms 1040) for others from 2018 to 2023, resulting in approximately $1.5 million in fake tax losses. Staten owned and operated Precise Tax Preparation, LLC, a tax return preparation in Greenville, North Carolina. It was anything but precise. She prepared false tax returns for clients that reported phony information to increase her client’s tax refunds. Many of the offending returns included false Schedules C, to report annual profit and loss from a small business. Staten generated false Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) claims by making up the income and expenses on Schedules C, which fraudulently allowed the taxpayer to maximize the EITC credit.
“Dishonest tax return preparers erode the integrity of the tax system by abusing their position of trust and placing honest taxpayers at risk,” said Special Agent in Charge Donald ‘Trey’ Eakins of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Charlotte Field Office. “IRS Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to expose these schemes and hold corrupt preparers accountable.”
W. Ellis Boyle, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after the Honorable James C. Dever III pronounced the sentence. IRS-CI investigated the case.
IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 16 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.