Terry E. Branco Sentenced for Tax Law Obstruction, OH, 2023

Terry E. Branco, a 65-year-old resident of Vermilion, Ohio, was today sentenced to five months imprisonment for corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the federal tax laws, according to Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

The sentence was imposed in Cleveland by United States District Judge James S. Gwin, who also ordered Branco to pay restitution of $47,475 for unpaid taxes from 2004 through 2007.

According to court records, Branco previously pleaded guilty to an Information describing her fraudulent activities over several years. For tax years 2004 through 2007, she filed false U.S. individual tax returns stating her total adjusted gross income was zero dollars when it actually ranged from $109,403 to $113,845.

In addition, Branco falsely claimed she was not a resident of the United States in 2006 and sent a purported ‘commercial affidavit’ to the IRS in 2008, claiming that the IRS was perpetuating a fraud. She also attempted to encumber real estate owned by an IRS employee through a Notice of Default and Affidavit of Notice filed with a county recorder in Utah.

The case was handled by Tax Division Trial Attorney Andrew P. Young and Assistant U.S. Attorney John M. Siegel, following investigations by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation in Akron, Ohio, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration in Cleveland, Ohio.