FAYETTEVILLE — A former Internal Revenue Service agent has been sentenced to federal prison for stealing the identity of a Northwest Arkansas business owner.
Ryan Payne, 36, of Barling pleaded guilty in January to two counts of a four-count indictment charging him with false representation of a Social Security number and aggravated identity theft.
Payne was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks to 52 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $9,953 restitution.
Federal inspectors opened a criminal investigation of Payne in 2015 stemming from his employment at the IRS in Fayetteville, according to court records. Payne resigned from the agency in January 2015.
During an official audit of a business for the tax year 2010, the business owner provided Payne a flash drive containing business records and personal identifying information.
According to the investigation, Payne retained the flash drive after leaving employment at the IRS and set up a credit account using the business owner’s name and Social Security number without authorization.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General did the investigation.
