Michael Thiel, Tax Evasion, Louisiana 2013

Criminal Defense Attorney Michael Thiel Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion in Louisiana

Michael Thiel, a 66-year-old resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was sentenced to 30 months in prison today for tax evasion, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

According to documents filed with the court, Thiel operated a criminal defense practice in Hammond, Louisiana. Despite earning substantial income through his law practice, Thiel evaded paying approximately $1 million in income and employment taxes, including interest and penalties. From 2003 through 2013, Thiel did not timely file income or employment tax returns and did not make timely payments of the taxes he owed.

Thiel used trusts and nominees to conceal his income and assets, creating the Thiel Family Trust in 2001 and two additional trusts in 2008 in the names of family members. In January 2007, Thiel used nominees to purchase his primary residence for $435,000 and entered into a phony lease agreement with the nominees to conceal his ownership of the property and shield it from IRS collection efforts.

Between January 2007 and January 2014, Thiel deposited $416,283 into the nominee account that was used to secure and pay the mortgage on the property. These funds came from the nominee trusts and other accounts not held in his name.

‘As a result of today’s sentence, criminal defense attorney Michael Thiel’s decade-long effort to evade paying his income and employment taxes is over, and he will begin serving time in prison,’ said Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg. ‘Each April, the vast majority of Americans follow the tax law and pay their fair share. They have the right to expect that taxpayers who spurn these obligations will be held fully to account — no matter their profession, wealth or position in the community.’

Thiel pleaded guilty in December 2016 to evading the payment of federal income and employment taxes and was ordered to serve two years of supervised release and to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $998,352.

In addition to the term of prison imposed, Thiel will also face two years of supervised release and pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $998,352.

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