Fort Myers, FL - U.S. Attorney Robert E. O'Neill announces that Peter Hesser (51, Port Charlotte) was sentenced today to 3 years in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release for three counts of filing false tax returns and one count of tax evasion. He was also ordered to pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service in the amount of $296,000. Hesser was found guilty in December 2012.
According to testimony presented at trial, Hesser filed fraudulent documents with the Internal Revenue Service in which he claimed to be owed a refund for tax years 2005, 2006 and 2007, in the amount of $500,000. These documents were not legitimate and were prepared with the sole purpose of defrauding the government. Hesser also changed his assets into gold and silver, as well as hid his mortgage payments in a bogus land transfer to avoid paying his taxes. This pattern of deceit stretched out over a decade, thereby evading the payment of taxes that had been assessed for tax years 2001, 2002 and 2003.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Douglas Molloy.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
