Former Prison Worker Gets 3 Months on Tax Charges

A former federal prison officer in southern Illinois has been ordered to spend three months in prison and pay $22,000 restitution for tax crimes.

Forty-three-year-old Attillah Ruffin pleaded guilty in January to charges she filed false tax returns.

The former officer at the federal prison in Greenville admitted she falsified her personal income tax returns each tax year from 2005 through 2010.

As part of that, she defrauded the federal government of $22,108 by claiming bogus dependents, child care expenses, unreimbursed employee expenses and residential energy credits.

In addition to three months in prison, she will spend an identical amount of time in home confinement. She also must get gambling-related counseling.