Rodrick Williams, Tax Evasion, Maryland 2009

A former tax return preparer in Maryland has been sentenced to prison for preparing false tax returns for customers.

Rodrick Williams, of District Heights, Md., was sentenced to 24 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus for conspiracy to impede the IRS, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

According to the evidence introduced in the plea agreement and at trial, Williams and his co-defendant, DaJuan Jackson, prepared tax returns at a branch office of American Tax Associates Inc. (ATA) located in a Run 'N Shoot gym in District Heights.

Williams and Jackson were the two main preparers in the branch office, which was responsible for preparing almost 1000 tax returns per year at the height of its business in 2004.

Williams cooperated with the government, and at trial, he testified that he and Jackson devised a scheme to place false information on the tax returns of ATA clients. In particular, Williams and Jackson falsified itemized deductions and business expenses so clients could fraudulently obtain bigger refunds.

Jackson was sentenced to 51 months in prison by Judge Titus on February 19, 2009.

Acting Assistant Attorney General John DiCicco commended the IRS special agents who investigated the case, as well as Tax Division trial attorneys Jerrod Patterson and Shawn Noud who prosecuted the case.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/fraudulent-tax-return-preparer-sentenced-prison-0