MADISON, WIS. -- Jeffrey M. Anderson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Jeffrey Overton, 57, McGregor, Iowa, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge William Conley to five months in federal prison for income tax evasion. Overton pleaded guilty to this charge on March 21, 2017.
From July 2006 until June 2011, Overton was a minority shareholder in Four Bears Construction, Inc., based in Elroy, Wis. Overton ran the day-to-day office activities of Four Bears Construction and maintained control over its finances, including its accounting records in QuickBooks.
The investigation revealed that Overton enriched himself by making a wide variety of personal purchases through Four Bears Construction, including ATVs, guns, tractors and related equipment, a high-end audio system and rims for his truck, home renovations, personal legal expenses, and many other personal items and services. Overton then classified each of these purchases as business expenses in QuickBooks.
At the plea hearing, Overton admitted that for the tax years 2008 through 2010, he used $420,164 in Four Bears’ funds for personal purchases and he failed to report any of that income on his tax returns. As a result, Overton avoided paying $127,963 in individual income tax for those years.
The charge against Overton was the result of an investigation conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wegner.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
