SCRANTON — The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that United States District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani sentenced Julio Polanco Suarez, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, to 70 months' imprisonment, for conspiring to defraud the government and for committing aggravated identity theft. According to Acting United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Suarez pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the government between March 2009 and September 2016. Suarez and his conspirators obtained fraudulent U.S. Treasury checks by stealing victims' identities and using those stolen identities to file false tax returns that generated significant refunds. The conspirators then secured the fraudulent U.S. Treasury checks and cashed them at various check cashing businesses, including several in Pennsylvania. Suarez admitted that between $1.5 million and $3.5 million in losses to the U.S. Treasury occurred as a result of the criminal activity.