DOJ: Florida Man Sentenced for Identity Theft, Hacking IRS

Florida man sentenced for accessing IRS system and obtaining taxpayer information

Monday, January 13, 2020

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA — Clinton Jean-Pierre, of Miami, Florida, was sentenced today to 70 months incarceration for identity theft through use of a computer, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced.

Jean-Pierre, age 28, pled guilty to one count of “Accessing a Computer and Obtaining Information” and one count of “Aggravated Identity Theft.” Jean-Pierre admitted to fraudulently accessing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) eAuthentication online taxpayer system, which has servers located in Berkeley County, in December 2017. In order to pass IRS security protocols, Jean-Pierre admitted that he fraudulently “ported” an unknowing person's cellular telephone number to his own phone in order to obtain the security code necessary to create an unauthorized taxpayer account. Once in the IRS eAuthentication system, Jean-Pierre admitted he gained access to a taxpayer's tax return information which included the taxpayer's personal identifying information.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn M. Adkins prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Cybercrime Investigations Division investigated.

Chief U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.

Updated January 13, 2020