A Detroit rapper implicated in a $27 million tax fraud scheme has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison and two years of supervised release. According to FOX 2 Detroit, Sameerah Marrell, who also goes by the monikers Sameerah Anderson, Sameerah Pickett, Crème, and Loren Boyd, was a member of the “Deuces Wild” female rap group.
Authorities said Marrell between 2014 and April 2022 collaborated with others to file 122 wrong income tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service and Minnesota, Georgia, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Colorado state treasuries. The accused individuals were said to have requested over $13,690,341 from the IRS and $14,730,365 from the states.
Authorities also said Marell, 42, managed to steal $8.5 million. She has since been ordered to pay an outstanding restitution of $7,979,041.71. But the restitution amount has been cut down by money, cars, and jewelry that the federal government and the states seized from her after the investigation was initiated.
The convicted rapper committed some of the crimes after she was arrested and charged with a slew of offenses including filing wrong claims to the IRS, authorities said. Marrell is said to have fled the state after she was charged. She was ultimately arrested in December 2022. Her conviction also came after she pleaded guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud, and committing an offense while on bond, FOX 2 Detroit reported.
“Ms. Marrell committed an astonishing amount of fraud against federal and state agencies. She also proved herself incorrigible, continuing her scams even after her initial arrest. We hope that today’s sentence will deter both Ms. Marrell and anyone else who seeks to steal public funds for private gain,” Charles Miller, who is the Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation, Detroit Field Office, said.