Barbara Antonucci, an unlicensed tax preparer from El Dorado County, is going to prison for three years and six months.

She also must pay $1,895,833 in restitution for conspiring to file false claims and filing false claims.

According to court documents, Antonucci and her co-conspirator, Sherry Taggart, 56, of El Dorado Hills, prepared tax returns for clients seeking to maximize their refunds from the Internal Revenue Service. In 2008, Antonucci began a scheme to obtain false refunds by preparing and filing false claims on behalf of clients with the IRS.

In total, including the period in which Antonucci operated the scheme by herself, the IRS issued more than $1.8 million in illegitimate refunds from more than $2.5 million illegitimate claims filed during the scheme.

In August, Antonucci pleaded guilty to conspiracy to file false claims and filing false claims.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report