PENSACOLA, FL—Four Pensacola residents, including a former IRS tax examiner, have been indicted for conspiring to file false claims for payment in connection with the 2010 BP oil spill. The indictment was announced today by Pamela C. Marsh, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

Rosa M. Bonner, 52, Ariyanna S. Lampley, 33, Jimmie A. McCorvey, 41, and Marcia D. McCorvey, 42, all of Pensacola, are charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud for filing false claims with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (“GCCF”) alleging lost income as a result of the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The indictment alleges that between 2010 and 2012, the defendants agreed to have McCorvey file false GCCF claims in their names. Lampley is also alleged to have provided McCorvey with additional identities for filing false GCCF claims. The indictment alleges that as a result of these false claims, GCCF paid $95,200 to the defendants.

McCorvey, who was an IRS employee at the time, is also charged with conspiring to file false tax returns. The indictment alleges that between 2009 and 2011, McCorvey prepared and filed approximately 25 fraudulent federal income tax returns, resulting in the issuance of more than $62,000 in tax refund checks. The indictment further charges McCorvey with aggravated identity theft for fraudulently using other people’s identities in both schemes.

Trial in this case is currently set for April 6, 2015, before Senior United States District Court Judge Roger Vinson. This case resulted from investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alicia Kim.

An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. The office strives to protect and serve the citizens of the Northern District of Florida through the ethical, vigorous, and impartial enforcement of the laws of the United States, to defend the national security, to improve the safety and quality of life in our communities through the protection of civil rights, and to protect the public funds and financial assets of the United States. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.