Sheila Phillips (Source: Angelina County Jail)BEAUMONT, TX (News Release) -
A 52-year-old
Lufkin, Texas woman has been sentenced to federal prison for tax violations in
the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales
today.
Sheila Phillips
pleaded guilty on May 30, 2012, to making a false statement to the Internal
Revenue Service and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison today by U.S.
District Judge Ron Clark. Phillips was
also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $124,217 to the Internal
Revenue Service.
According to
information presented in court, Phillips operated a tax preparation and electronic
business initially doing business as Sheila's Tax Return and later as Ashley's
Tax Service. During that time, she
prepared a tax return falsely stating that a specific individual was the head
of household and that this same individual had a foster child qualifying this
individual for a larger deduction.
This
individual did not have any children or foster children that would have
qualified for this deduction. In all, Phillips
made false statements in 29 individual tax returns resulting in overpayments in
the amount of $124,127. Phillips was
indicted by a federal grand jury on Mar. 21, 2012 and charged with tax
violations.
This case was investigated by the IRS
and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Reynaldo P. Morin.
Copyright 2012 KTRE. All rights reserved.
