A Miami Dade College student was sentenced to 24 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $7,712, for his participation in a stolen identity tax refund fraud scheme involving his student financial services account.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

Erving Jaques Etienne, 21, of Hollywood, previously pled guilty to one count of theft of government property, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 641 and 2.

According to court documents, Etienne received nine fraudulently obtained U.S. Department of Treasury tax refunds into his personal Higher One, Inc. (HOI) account. HOI provided financial services to colleges and universities throughout the United States, including Miami Dade College in the Southern District of Florida.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John R. Byrne.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.