JON'S CELL: A 60-year-old Milwaukee strip club owner who pleaded guilty to allegedly cheating on his taxes will face two years of probation with six months on home confinement along with a $10,000 fine. The sentence was actually steeper than the recommendation that was made by the prosecutor and the defense, both of whom had recommended probation with no home confinement and no fine. The U.S. District Judge presiding over the case, however, disagreed with their recommendation and issued the stronger sentence.
The charges and subsequent sentence against the man stemmed from a two-month period back in 2009, when the man allegedly structured his bank deposits from his two strip clubs so that the deposits would fall below $10,000. This was an attempt to keep the banks receiving the deposits from creating transaction reports that would alert the Internal Revenue Service to the income.
According to court records, the man allegedly made about 30 deposits into about six different accounts with each deposit being below the $10,000 threshold that would have forced the banks to send in the transaction reports. He then reportedly opened another bank account in Grand Cayman for the purpose of purchasing a condominium there.
Officials state that the man later agreed to pay the Internal Revenue Service $240,000 to avoid seizure of the Grand Cayman property once his plan was discovered. He also made an agreement to re-file three years of tax returns after a discovery by the IRS that he had failed to report $750,000 in income. He owed $250,000 in taxes to the IRS.
Those accused of a federal crime such as tax evasion can face stiff penalties including steep fines and even time spent in prison. An experienced Wisconsin criminal defense attorney could assist a defendant throughout this difficult legal process, providing information about possible defense strategies against the charges.
Source: Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, “Wisconsin strip club owner gets probation in federal tax scam case” John Diedrich, Mar. 21, 2014
