‘This Case Is . . . Almost Bizarre’ : ‘Peculiar Drive’ Earns Her Two Years in Prison

A woman who schemed to cheat the government out of $300,000 in tax refunds by using half a dozen aliases was sentenced to two years in prison and five years of psychiatric aftercare Friday by a Los Angeles federal judge who said the woman had a “peculiar drive” to pretend to be other people.

“This case is a unique, almost bizarre one,” said U.S. District Judge Matt Byrne Jr. as he imposed the sentence on Barbara Ann Woods of Los Angeles. “This woman has a master’s degree. She has the ability to function productively in society. But she has this peculiar drive to (be) someone or something she is not.”

Byrne sentenced Woods, 43, to two years in prison on five counts of mail fraud in connection with her scheme to defraud both the state Franchise Tax Board and the Internal Revenue Service.

He imposed an additional five years of probation on a charge of making a false claim against the government, ordering that she undergo psychiatric treatment during that period.

Requires Therapy

Byrne’s action came as Public Defender Steve Hillman presented the findings of a psychiatric report that said Woods suffered from a “lifelong” psychological problem driving her toward criminal activity that requires long-term therapy and medication.

“She is not simply a greedy, sophisticated criminal,” Hillman said. “She is diagnosed as having a lifelong disorder. She has never received the medicine to control her criminal impulses. It is something that is treatable. It’s not just that she is a sociopath.”

While Assistant U.S. Atty. Sharon Ellingsen accepted the psychiatric report on Woods, who was in tears during most of the sentencing hearing, Ellingsen pointed out to Byrne that there was no reason to believe that Woods would not repeat her fraud activities if immediately placed on probation.

Mental Illness

“I believe she does present a threat to society,” Byrne said. “But there is some mitigation, because of psychiatric problems. She does not really suffer from a mental illness, (but) she lived this make-believe life for many years, presenting herself as a lawyer and working out this plan to defraud the government.”

Woods, the wife of Los Angeles County Probation Officer Ephrim Woods, who watched as she was sentenced, collapsed in sobs before and after the courtroom proceeding.

She told Byrne: “I am very remorseful and I’m sorry I shamed all my family.”

Woods was accused of filing more than 100 fraudulent income tax returns, using various aliases and claiming $300,000 in refunds. According to court documents, she actually received about $50,000 in state income tax refunds but did not receive any federal refunds.

Besides using aliases in her fraud scheme, Ellingsen said, Woods had posed as a lawyer for several years, actually representing 75 clients in various matters.