Opelousas woman pleads guilty to identify theft

An Opelousas woman pleaded guilty to stealing a woman’s identity so she could cash a tax refund check worth more than $6,000, U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley said in a news release.
Hailey Guidry, 33, of Opelousas, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik to one count of identity theft.
According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, Guidry worked intermittently for her sister’s businesses, which are Guidry’s Tax Service and Dee’s Tax Service. Part of Guidry’s duties involved handling refund checks customers elected to have sent to her sister’s businesses. On May 8, 2013, a refund for a customer of Dee’s Tax Service was received, and Guidry later took possession of the check. Guidry then obtained a false identification card in the name of the customer on May 14, 2013 and cashed the $6,638.05 check the next day using the false identification card, the news release stated.
Guidry faces up to 15 years in prison, two years supervised release, a $250,000 fine and forfeiture of the items seized during the investigation. A sentencing date was not set.
The IRS conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney David C. Joseph and Myers P. Namie are prosecuting the case.