A judge sentenced Crème, a member of the rap duo Deuces Wild, to several years in prison for tax fraud.
Crème, whose real name is Sameerah Marrell, received four and a half years in prison. The judge also ordered her to pay $7,979,041.71 in restitution.
The Detroit area rapper pleaded guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud and committing an offense while on bond in January. Crème fled from authorities after she failed to show up for a guilty plea hearing in October 2022. She was caught in Memphis in December 2022.
Crème stole $8.5 million as part of a tax fraud scheme that ran from 2014 through early 2022. The Deuces Wild member and her accomplices targeted the Internal Revenue Service and state agencies.
The 42-year-old woman and her accomplices filed more than 120 false income tax returns for estates and trusts in an attempt to claim $13,690,341 from the IRS. They also falsified state income tax returns, seeking $14,730,365 from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland and Minnesota.
“Ms. Marrell committed an astonishing amount of fraud against federal and state agencies,” Charles Miller of the IRS said in a press release. “She also proved herself incorrigible, continuing her scams even after her initial arrest. We hope that today’s sentence will deter both Ms. Marrell and anyone else who seeks to steal public funds for private gain.”
Crème must serve three years on supervised release after her prison sentence. Her restitution was slightly reduced based on cars, jewelry and money seized by the government during its investigation.