DOJ Announces Sentencing of Miami Man for Hacking IRS

Florida man sentenced for unlawfully downloading tax return transcripts from IRS

Monday, December 7, 2020

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA — Ludrick Joseph, of Miami, Florida, was sentenced today to 60 months of incarceration for downloading taxpayer transcripts by unlawfully accessing Internal Revenue Service (IRS) computers, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced.

Joseph, age 39, pled guilty in March 2020 to a one-count information charging him with “Accessing a Computer and Obtaining Information.” Joseph admitted to fraudulently accessing the IRS eAuthentication online taxpayer system, which has servers located in Berkeley County, in April 2015. In order to pass IRS security protocols, Joseph unlawfully obtained the Electronic Filing Pin (EFP) for a taxpayer which allowed him access into the eAuthentication system. Once in the IRS eAuthentication system, Joseph fraudulently gained access to eight different tax return transcripts of an individual taxpayer. The tax return transcripts contained the taxpayer's date of birth, social security number, and gross income, among other sensitive information.

The investigation further revealed that Joseph unlawfully possessed approximately 2,145 credit card numbers and 3,875 unique social security numbers.

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.