Kevin P. Davidson, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama
On January 31, 2025, a federal judge sentenced Natoshia Lashawn Crawford to 30 months in prison for making false tax returns and assisting in the filing of false tax returns. The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Kevin Davidson and Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman with IRS Criminal Investigation’s Atlanta Field Office. It is important to note that federal inmates are not eligible for parole.
Crawford, who owned On Time Professional Tax Service, LLC, in Montgomery, Alabama, from 2018 through 2022, prepared and filed federal income tax returns for clients. In her plea agreement, she admitted to including false information on tax returns filed on behalf of herself and others. This resulted in greater refunds than entitled for Crawford and some of her clients.
One example highlighted was Crawford's 2020 tax return where she reported an income of $23,116 but knowingly excluded other income from her business. Her guilty plea on May 13, 2024, acknowledged this exclusion which led to an underpayment to the IRS amounting to $32,867. Additionally, she admitted to filing a fraudulent 2019 return for a client claiming a nonexistent business loss of $90,171. Overall, during the 2017-2021 tax years, Crawford's actions caused a total loss of $1,721,047.45 to the IRS. Alongside her prison sentence, she has been ordered to pay restitution for these losses.
Acting United States Attorney Davidson commented on the case stating: “For far too long, opportunistic tax return preparers like Ms. Crawford have viewed the IRS as a piggybank.” He expressed hope that Crawford’s sentence would deter others from similar actions.
Special Agent in Charge Hardeman emphasized the consequences of such fraudulent activities: “The sentence Natoshia Crawford received is an example of the expected outcome others could face should they willfully defraud the government by submitting false and inaccurate tax returns.”
The investigation was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation with Assistant United States Attorney Megan A. Kirkpatrick prosecuting the case.
For more information on preparing accurate tax returns see the IRS fact sheet available at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-news/fs-08-10.pdf.
