March 17, 2020 - 2:24 PM
ORLANDO, Fla. - A South Florida couple with a popular YouTube channel have been sentenced to federal prison for stealing Social Security and federal tax funds.
Billy Altidor, 29, received two years, and Evanie Louis, 28, received one year and a day during a Monday hearing in Orlando federal court, according to court records. They must also pay nearly $94,000 in restitution. They pleaded guilty last July to conspiracy to commit theft of government funds and aggravated identity theft.
According to court documents, Louis, Altidor and others used stolen personal information to access the Social Security Administration's website to direct benefit payments to accounts controlled by the conspirators. The conspirators accessed or attempted to access the online accounts belonging to more than 1,400 individuals, without the victims’ knowledge or authorization.
The conspirators also used stolen personal information to file false tax returns and directed the fraudulently obtained tax refunds into accounts they controlled, investigators said. They also used stolen identities to activate debit cards and bank accounts to receive the fraudulent tax refunds.
The Wellington, Florida, couple's YouTube channel, BEAM Squad, has more than 1.4 million subscribers. Wellington is west of West Palm Beach.
News from © The Associated Press, 2020