The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Butte, on July 11, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, IRENE PASTER, age 65, and YOLANDA PASTER, age 40, residents of Big Sky, pled guilty to willful failure to file a tax return. Sentencing has been set for Oct. 25, 2013. They are currently released on special conditions.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Chad C. Spraker, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
A married person filing a joint return must file a tax return if his or her income exceeds $18,700 in gross income for the 2009 calendar year. During the 2009 calendar year, IRENE PASTER and her spouse had gross income totaling $91,322.
IRENE filed an extension of time to file an IRS Form 1040 for the 2009 tax year, which created an extension date of Oct. 15, 2010. IRENE however, willfully failed to file a 2009 return on or before Oct. 15, 2010.
An unmarried person, who is not a surviving spouse or head of household, must file a tax return if his or her income exceeds $9,350 in gross income for the 2009 calendar year. During the 2009 calendar year, YOLANDA PASTER, Irene's daughter, had a gross income totaling $60,413.
YOLANDA filed an extension of time to file an IRS Form 1040 for the 2009 tax year, which created an extension date of Oct. 15, 2010. YOLANDA, however, willfully failed to file a 2009 return on or before Oct. 15, 2010.
They each possible penalties of 1 year in prison, a $100,000 fine and 1 year supervised release.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Secret Service.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
