A Worcester woman who took part in a scheme to cheat the Internal Revenue Service out of nearly $400,000 has apologized in court.
The Telegram & Gazette reports that 45-year-old Lydia Torres was in court Monday after pleading guilty previously to charges of identity theft and conspiracy to file false claims.
Federal prosecutors asked for 18 months in prison, while her lawyer sought a sentence of three years of probation. The judge postponed sentencing until December.
Prosecutors say while running her own tax preparation business, Torres stole the money by filing false tax returns based on stolen identities from Puerto Rico.
Her lawyer argued that she was simply a pawn in a scheme run by other people.
Torres told the judge that what she did was, "morally wrong.''
