MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – A federal judge has set a sentencing date for May 7 for three defendants convicted last month in a drug-and-gun conspiracy case that drew widespread attention because of the use of children as couriers.
The jury found Glennie Antonio “Little Man” McGee, 42, and his wife, 43-year-old Echandza Dianca Maxie, guilty. The case came to light publicly after law enforcement officers raided a house on Harvey Court in Mobile and encountered a 3-year-old boy wearing a backpack full of cocaine.
May 7 also is the date that the defendants and Maxie’s sister, Edeszann Dailene Maxie, 36, will be sentenced in a separate fraud case. All three defendants pleaded guilty last month to charges related to fraudulent tax returns and stealing taxpayer funds meant to help victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to court records, Echandza Maxie was owner and operator of Self Made Taxes in Mobile. She, her husband and her sister admitted that beginning in 2022, they conspired with others to file hundreds of fraudulent tax returns falsely claiming COVID-related sick-and-family leave credits. Echandza Maxie admitted that she used TurboTax, which is designed for self-filers, to conceal her identity. She listed her own contact information on returns filed in others’ names, generating more than $1 million in fraudulent tax refunds, according to her written plea agreement…