BOSTON — A former Internal Revenue Service employee from Lawrence has been sentenced to a year and a half in prison for filing false tax returns to fraudulently obtain tax refunds and for stealing Social Security benefits.
On March 4, 2026, Kathleen Mannion, 59, of Lawrence, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Nathaniel Gorton in federal court in Boston to 18 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. In May 2025, Mannion pleaded guilty to four counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of a false tax return and one count of theft of government money. Mannion was initially charged in March 2025.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mannion worked as an IRS contact representative in Andover from 1998 to 2009. From about July 2020 through April 2023, Mannion prepared and filed income tax returns with the IRS for other individuals without listing herself as the tax return preparer. Prosecutors said Mannion instead prepared the returns to appear as if the taxpayers had filed them on their own. She also listed ineligible dependents on the returns, resulting in larger refunds that the taxpayers were not entitled to receive, allegedly without their knowledge. Federal prosecutors say Mannion also filed forms with the IRS directing that a portion of the fraudulently obtained refunds be deposited into her personal bank accounts, which she used for personal expenses.
In a separate scheme between April and October 2020, Mannion applied by telephone for Social Security retirement, spouse, and widow benefits on behalf of other individuals with the Social Security Administration. According to prosecutors, the beneficiaries were unaware that Mannion directed the Social Security payments to be deposited into her personal bank accounts, which she also used for her own benefit.
The case was announced by United States Attorney Leah B. Foley, IRS Criminal Investigation Boston Field Office Special Agent in Charge Thomas Demeo, and Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General Boston Field Division Special Agent in Charge Amy Connelly.
The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Nagelberg of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Major Crimes Unit.
