Tampa, Florida - U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore has sentenced Nova A. Montgomery to three years in federal prison for tax evasion and failure to file a tax return. The Court also ordered her to serve a three-year term of supervision following her incarceration, pay a $10,000 fine, and pay $338,308 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service for taxes owed during the years of the offenses.
A federal jury found Montgomery guilty on Oct. 10, 2014.
According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Montgomery was self-employed as a distributor for a multi-level marketing company that sold nutritional and other products. Between 2002 and 2012, she received commissions and other income exceeding $2.7 million. Montgomery set up a complex corporate structure that made it appear that virtually none of the income she received from the commissions and sales went to her personally. Further, on Feb. 12, 2009, in the midst of an IRS audit, Montgomery filed false and fraudulent federal income tax returns claiming that she had no income for 2002 through 2006. In addition, she failed to file personal income tax returns for 2008 through 2012.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark E. Bini.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
