Former Colorado resident Donald Turner, also known as Donald Wood, has been found guilty of conspiring to defraud the United States by a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in Erie, Pa.
The jury reached this verdict on an unknown date. Turner was charged with conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by promoting and selling memberships in First American Research (FAR) and a book entitled, “Tax Free! How the Super Rich Do It.”
According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Turner sold the program to Daniel Leveto, a Meadville, Pa., veterinarian, in 1991. As part of the program, Leveto utilized various methods to conceal his income from the IRS as directed by Turner.
One of these methods included the purported sale of Leveto’s veterinary business to an alleged offshore entity called Center Company. However, Leveto actually retained dominion and control over the veterinary business. The object of the conspiracy was to conceal and prevent the IRS from discovering and identifying income received by the Levetos and assets held by them.
Leveto, Turner’s accomplice, was previously convicted by a jury in June 2005 and sentenced to 46 months in prison.
Turner faces a maximum punishment of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Judge Maurice B. Cohill is scheduled to sentence Turner on January 18, 2012.
The case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Justice Tax Division trial attorneys Andrew Young and Thomas Voracek.
The full details of this case can be found on the U.S. Justice Tax’s website.
Related Federal Cases
- Jason Jimenez, Conspiracy to Defraud IRS, New York 2017 · Colorado
- Joseph Dees, Aggravated Identity Theft, Pennsylvania 2013 · Colorado
- Keith A Simpson, Embezzlement, Pennsylvania 2014 · Colorado
- Giuseppina Josephine Leone, Wire Fraud, Pennsylvania 2023 · Colorado
- Charles A. Richardson, Wire Fraud and Money Laundering, Pennsylvania 2020 · Indiana
Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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