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Date: May 6, 2026
Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov
Springfield, MO — On May 6, 2026, a Springfield, Illinois, woman was sentenced in federal court for one count of wire fraud and one count of making false, fictitious, or fraudulent claims.
Tina Louise Yager was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Megan Blair Benton for one count of wire fraud and one count of making false, fictitious, or fraudulent claims. Yager was sentenced to 38 months incarceration with the Bureau of Prisons, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $14,447 to the Internal Revenue Service and $2,403 to the Missouri Department of Revenue, for a total amount of $16,850 in restitution.
In this case, Yager used her tax preparer position with a Jackson-Hewitt Tax Service in Republic, Missouri to abuse the personal financial information of others to prepare and transmit fraudulent income tax returns. As a result of Yager’s fraudulent documents, she embezzled $16,850 from the IRS and Missouri Department of Revenue collectively. Yager would file tax returns for customers of Jackson-Hewitt without their knowledge or approval. Yager would then have any refunds directed to her instead of the proper taxpayer.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the Missouri Department of Revenue.
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 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.