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On March 12, Aylissa Glidewell, 35, of Kingsport, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire and mail fraud for her role in making claims for refunds of false COVID-19 employment tax credits before the Honorable Clifton L. Corker, United States District Judge.

Sentencing is set for July 9, 2025, at 11 a.m. in the United States District Court at Greeneville. Glidewell faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud. A federal district court judge will determine any sentencing after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Glidewell conspired with others to file false tax returns seeking fraudulent refunds based on the employee retention credit (ERC) and paid sick and family leave credit, both of which were created by Congress to aid struggling businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Glidewell and co-conspirators created phony businesses, which lacked any employees or operations, for the sole purpose of claiming the bogus credits.

Glidewell filed numerous false tax returns for those phony businesses and directed the tax refunds to be mailed to an address she and co-conspirators controlled. In total, the refunds claimed were over $3.4 million, of which the IRS paid approximately $1.8 million.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III for the Eastern District of Tennessee made the announcement. IRS Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service investigated the case. Trial Attorney Zachary A. Cobb of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mac D. Heavener for the Eastern District of Tennessee are prosecuting the case.