Cuban Man Faces Deportation For ID Theft Of UPMC Workers

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PITTSBURGH (AP) - A Cuban national faces deportation once he finishes serving about three years in prison for his role in an international conspiracy to file more than 900 phony federal tax returns seeking $2.2 million using employee information stolen from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Yoandy Perez Llanes pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and aggravated identity theft charged in April. He's been in custody since May 2015 and was sentenced Thursday to spend six more months in prison before he'll be deported.

Federal prosecutors say Llanes' tracked phony tax refunds paid as Amazon.com credits, then received cellphones, computers and other electronics bought with the credits that were shipped to him in Venezuela. The Turbo Tax service that converts tax refunds to the merchandise credits is known as monetizing.

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