Ex-Antioch cop, wife plead guilty in tax fraud conspiracy

By Bay City News Service -- A former Antioch police officer and his wife have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a tax fraud conspiracy involving $720,530 worth of stolen U.S. Treasury checks, federal prosecutors said today.

Between January and April of 2015, Gary and Ana Bostick filed false federal income tax returns in the names of deceased individuals to obtain fraudulent federal income tax refunds, then cashed the checks at Wal-Mart stores, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The Pittsburg couple used online resources including www.rootsweb.ancestry.com and www.ssnvalidator.com to obtain names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers, then directed Internal Revenue Service
correspondence to addresses they could access.

Ana admitted to obtaining false identification matching the names on the checks. She also cashed two of the checks, then kept the proceeds.

Gary traveled to Los Angeles with two co-conspirators to obtain the checks then went to Wal-Marts in various areas, including Kentucky, to cash them.

Ana and Gary Bostick were indicted by a federal grand jury, along with their co-conspirators, in November 2015.

Ana was charged with conspiracy to commit theft of public money, theft of public money and aggravated identity theft. She pleaded guilty Tuesday. She returns to court for sentencing Nov. 14.

The maximum sentence for theft of public money is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The mandatory minimum sentence for aggravated identity theft is two years in prison.

Gary was indicted on conspiracy to commit theft of public money, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He pleaded guilty to the conspiracy and wire fraud charges this morning, but the identity theft charges were
dropped as part of his plea deal. He returns to court for sentencing Sept. 19.

The maximum sentence for wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum sentence for conspiracy to commit theft of public money is five years in prison.