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Ohio Tax Evasion Case Sentencing
A certified public accountant (CPA) from Dayton, Ohio, was sentenced today to serve 12 months and one day in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. in Columbus, Ohio, on tax charges, announced the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Larry E. Couchot, 59, who is the president and part owner of a CPA firm in Centerville, Ohio, was also ordered to pay $40,711 in restitution and a $10,000 fine, and to serve four months of community confinement followed by two months of home confinement following his prison term.
Couchot’s sentencing today follows the sentencing of three of his tax clients, Jon B. Field, of Dublin, Ohio, Paul A. Butler, also of Dublin, and Eric P. Schilder, of Marion, Ohio, who were all associated with Cadillac Ranch restaurants.
According to the documents filed with the court, during 2006 through 2010, Couchot prepared false federal income tax returns for his clients Jon B. Field, Butler and Schilder. The three clients used a substantial amount of company funds for personal purposes, which included payments for their personal cars, car insurance, country club dues and their individual income tax liabilities.
Couchot also admitted that he prepared false tax returns for these individuals which failed to report all of the above personal expenditures as income on the individuals’ income tax returns.
Couchot pleaded guilty to aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false income tax return for the year 2009 for Jon B. Field, and to preparing a false income tax return for Schilder for the year 2007 which reported only $68,000 of income despite the fact that the business records of the company showed that Shilder earned over $129,000 in that year.
Couchot was sentenced for his crimes by U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. in Columbus, Ohio, on June 5, 2014. The case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Richard M. Rolwing and Senior Litigation Counsel John E. Sullivan of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
Key Facts
- State: Ohio
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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