Rebecca C. Lutzko United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio
Alice F. Martin, a 66-year-old trucking company operator from Louisville, Ohio, has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for tax evasion. U.S. District Judge Donald C. Nugent handed down the sentence on December 2, following Martin's guilty plea in August to charges of attempting to evade and defeat income tax and payment of tax. In addition to her prison term, Martin was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay $1,971,660.86 in restitution.
Court documents show that Martin tried to avoid paying taxes, penalties, and interest associated with her company, Martin Logistics. To evade these payments, she phased out Martin Logistics after it accumulated significant tax debt but continued her business operations through a new company called TSA Transportation.
Income from TSA Transportation was deposited into an account for another business entity owned by Martin named A.F. Martin. She also transferred assets such as trucks and trailers from Martin Logistics to another company she created, Martin Global. IRS investigators determined that between 2013 and 2018, about $18 million in gross receipts from TSA Transportation were directed into A.F. Martin’s bank account. The investigation found that $3.6 million in taxable income was not reported during this period, resulting in an unpaid federal tax amount of approximately $1.2 million.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the law enforcement division responsible for probing financial crimes like tax fraud and money laundering across the United States.
Assistant United States Attorney Edward Brydle prosecuted the case for the Northern District of Ohio.
IRS-CI agents are uniquely authorized to investigate violations of the Internal Revenue Code and maintain a high conviction rate nationally with offices across the country and abroad.
