Another ex-mental health worker named in tax-fraud scheme

Via the Denver Post

A former health care technician at the state mental hospital is among those indicted in a federal tax-fraud scheme that includes patients at the hospital.

Jenice Melonas, 26, of Colorado Springs, who resigned from her job at the institute in February, is charged in a racketeering enterprise that netted about $25,000 a month.

If convicted, she could face up to 24 years in prison.

Melonas is the second former staffer at the Colorado Mental Health Institute implicated in the March 16 indictment by a Pueblo grand jury.

The indictment alleges that the tax-fraud scheme used the Social Security numbers of patients at the institute to file false federal tax forms.

Those allegedly involved in the fraud falsely claimed some patients at the institute were dependents of other patients and then made claims for payment of the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Richard Gerald Madrid, who retired in December from his job as recreational therapist, is identified in court documents as a member of the criminal enterprise, but he was not indicted.

"I can't tell you anything," Madrid said Wednesday.

Melonas, who was released from the Pueblo County Jail on a $50,000 bond on March 19, could not be reached.

The grand jury also indicted Raul Caraveo, a patient at the institute, who is accused of demanding that half of the tax proceeds go to him, according to the indictment. He is being held at the Pueblo County Jail on $50,000 bail.

The third person indicted was Kenneth Fritz, 45, who in the summer of 2004 escaped from the institute after he was permitted to attend a family reunion in Cleveland. After his escape, his status was changed to "unconditional release" at the urging of his treatment supervisors.

The indictment names six other patients at the institute as participating in the racketeering, but they were not indicted.