Crime & Safety
Pleasanton Woman Sentenced to 27 Months in Prison for Tax Fraud
Feds say Denise LaShawn Reed falsely claimed she was being treated for breast cancer at Stanford Hospital in order to get a lighter sentence.
A federal judge in Oakland sentenced a Pleasanton woman with at least five aliases to 27 months in prison for tax fraud on Monday.
Denise LaShawn Reed, 45, also known as Brooke Nicholson, Lauren Roberts, Denise Berry, Savana Jones, and Neyce Roberts, was charged more than a year ago with filing 14 bogus tax returns totaling nearly $100,000.
According to a sentencing memo filed by federal prosecutors this month, Reed used the money to pay for her daughter’s dentist appointments and trips to Las Vegas. In October, one month after pleading guilty, Reed was arrested for a DUI.
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After pleading guilty, Reed tried to wangle leniency from the court by forging a letter from Stanford Hospital falsely claiming doctors there were treating her for breast cancer, according to the feds. In addition to the 27 months behind bars, Reed will be under so-called supervised release for 3 years.
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