PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – A local tax preparer has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for preparing false tax returns.
Benell English, 57, of Pensacola, was handed down the sentence by Christopher P. Canova, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, after being found guilty of preparing false tax returns.
English, who worked 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. The sentence was announced on Wednesday, with English ordered to pay $182,877 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
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.
For more information about the case, visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website, or the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida website at http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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