PENSACOLA, FLORIDA - Benell English, 57, of Pensacola, was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison Wednesday and ordered to pay $182,877 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service after having been found guilty on May 23 of preparing false tax returns. The sentence was announced by Christopher P. Canova, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
English, the tax return preparer at Select Tax Service on E Street in Pensacola, prepared and filed false tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service between 2013 and 2017 by fraudulently increasing or decreasing taxpayers’ income to maximize refunds. A jury convicted English of 18 counts of preparing false tax returns in May.
This case resulted from an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the Social Security Administration-Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Alicia H. Forbes prosecuted the case.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
