A woman from Georgia faces up to 30 years in prison after she recently pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to filing more than $3 million in fraudulent tax returns on behalf of her clients.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Macon, Ga. reported last week that 33-year-old Jessica Crawford pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aiding in the preparation of false income tax returns.

District Judge Tilman “Tripp” Self has scheduled sentencing for March, but beside the prison term she also faces a fine of $1 million.

Crawford operated Crawford Tax Services on Commerce Boulevard, a business area off Atlanta Highway in Athens.

The FBI reported it was investigating a multi-state unemployment benefit scheme during the pandemic when agents discovered text messages between Crawford and a client, who had created a fake business to fraudulently obtain benefits.

Crawford profited by receiving a percentage of the gains, according to the U.S. Attorney. The criminal investigations division of the IRS joined the investigation and an undercover agent met with Crawford to have tax returns filed, according to the report.

Crawford asked the agent, posing as a customer, if he did anything on the side and he responded no, but said he did mow his aunt’s grass sometimes.

The report says “Crawford said that was good enough.”

No income or expense amounts were provided, but she created a “Schedule C business” for landscaping on the customer’s federal income return and filed a fictitious loss of $19,373. On the return, federal agents also noted she filed an earned income tax credit, a child tax credit, and a business income deduction, which called for a fraudulent federal income tax return of $12,359.

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As a result, the IRS reported it began a review of 1,261 tax returns filed by Crawford over the tax years of 2020 through 2021.

Those returns show Crawford fraudulently filed tax returns on behalf of clients that resulted in losses to the IRS of more than $3 million, according to the report.

“Jessica Crawford lied and took advantage of funds designed to help those who were truly in need during the pandemic,” FBI Agent Sean Burke of the Atlanta office said in a statement released with the report.

Demetrius Hardeman, the agent in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigations Office in Atlanta, released a statement that Crawford “was an unscrupulous return preparer who allowed greed to cloud her judgment and neglect her responsibilities to help clients prepared and file a true and correct tax return.”

Hardeman encouraged people to choose their tax preparer carefully before tax season begins in January.

ATHENS — The Georgia basketball program continued its strong early run of play, picking up an impressive 69-48 home win over Notre Dame on Tuesday night in Stegeman Coliseum.

The Bulldogs moved to 8-1 on the season and now boast wins over Georgia Tech, St. John’s and Notre Dame. The lone loss on the season for Georgia came against No. 5 Marquette in The Bahamas.

Asa Newell helped push Georgia ahead in the first half, scoring 11 points in the final 6 minutes of the opening half. Newell’s outburst gave Georgia a 34-22 lead heading into halftime. Newell would finish the game with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Georgia quickly built its lead up to 17 points, holding a 41-24 edge early in the second half. Notre Dame used a 15-2 run to trim Georgia’s lead to 4. But Dakota Leffew hit a 3-point to stop the run and give Georgia a 46-39 lead.

Leffew once again shined as Georgia’s best 3-point marksman, knocking down 4 of his 9 attempts. He finished with 16 points on the night and was the only Bulldog to knock down multiple 3-point attempts.

With 8:14 remaining, Silas Demary Jr. knocked down an open 3-pointer to push Georiga’s lead safely back into double-digits. It was a positive showing for Demary, as he finished with 11 points and 2 assists on the night. Demary provided a strong defensive effort as well for the Bulldogs, as he had a career-high 5 steals on the night.

Tyrin Lawrence had a strong night running the point for Georgia, as he finished with 7 assists on the evening. Georgia held a commanding 19-to-5 edge in assists. Georgia also topped Notre Dame in the turnover department, as the Bulldogs had 5 compared to Notre Dame’s 10.

Newell, Demary and Leffew were the only Bulldogs to reach double figures on Tuesday night. Georgia did shoot only 44 percent from the field, but that bested Notre Dame’s mark of 36 percent.

If Mike White were to have a complaint, it would be that his team settled for too many 3-pointers. The Bulldogs made just 6 of 26 attempts on the night. Georgia shot just 9 free throw attempts on the evening. Yet Notre Dame was an even more anemic 4-of-21 from 3-point range.

The Bulldogs will get some time off, as they do not return to action until Dec. 14. They will play Grand Canyon in Atlanta in State Farm Arena. Georgia’s next home game will come on Dec. 19 against Buffalo.

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NIGHT AFTER night, a contest between fear and hope is playing out on the streets of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi. Defying club-wielding riot police, protesters have gathered each evening since November 28th to demand that their government resumes its frozen bid to join the European Union and holds fresh, unrigged elections. This being real life rather than a morality tale, it cannot be ruled out that fear will win.