FORT WORTH, Texas - A Tarrant County man was sentenced this morning to 21 months in federal prison for tax evasion, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.
Jeffrey James was convicted at trial this summer on an indictment charging one count of tax evasion. In addition to the custody sentence, U.S. District Judge McBryde ordered that James pay $32,509 in restitution. He must surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on Nov. 21, 2014.
At trial, the government presented evidence that between 2006 and 2009, James embezzled more than $250,000 from the Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, Texas, where he was employed as Director of Club Accounting. James had held that position for 15 years. James evaded assessment and payment of taxes by failing to disclose his stolen money on his federal income tax return.
The government presented evidence that during calendar year 2008, James, a married resident of Richland Hills, Texas, attempted to evade and defeat a large part of the federal income tax he and his spouse owed for calendar year 2007 by filing a fraudulent joint federal income tax return. That return stated, according to evidence presented, their joint taxable income for calendar year 2007 was $57,542, and tax due and owing was $5,639. In fact, as James well knew, their joint taxable income for that year was $153,959, of which tax due and owing was $32,059.
Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Doug Allen and Chris Wolfe prosecuted.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
