Bobby Lemon to Serve 12-Month Sentence for Falsely Preparing Soldiers Tax Returns
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - Bobby Lemon, 36, of McRae, Georgia, was sentenced yesterday to serve a term of imprisonment of 12 months and one day in connection with his plea of guilty to aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false and fraudulent tax return and filing a false income tax return, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Kathy A. Enstrom, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), New York Field Office. Lemon was also ordered to pay $115,391 in restitution and will serve a one-year term of supervised release following his release from prison.
On March 25, 2016, Lemon, a 17-year veteran of the U.S. Army, pled guilty and admitted to preparing false tax returns for soldiers while deployed to Afghanistan and while stationed at Fort Drum, New York. The defendant used false information, such as filing status and dependents, to generate fraudulent refunds, a portion of which was deposited in his personal bank account. Lemon prepared 30 false income tax returns for the 2011 and 2012 tax years and did not disclose the fraudulent refund payments he received on his own income tax return.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), New York Field Office and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamara Thomson.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
