Helen Tantillo, Lying to FBI Agents, Texas 2016

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Texas Exec Sits Six Months for Lying to Feds

DALLAS – In a shocking turn of events, Helen Tantillo, a 59-year-old corporate executive from Austin, Texas, was sentenced to six months in federal prison, followed by a three-year term of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine for lying to Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Tantillo was convicted in January 2016 in federal court in Austin on two counts of lying to FBI agents in the public corruption investigation of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price and others.

The investigation, led by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, uncovered a web of deceit and corruption that reached the highest echelons of Dallas County government.

Tantillo’s downfall began when she lied to FBI agents in June 2014 about a temporary $10,000 increase in Christian Campbell’s consulting fees. She falsely claimed that the increase was to make a charitable donation to the favorite charity of another Dallas County Commissioner.

However, phone records and other evidence at trial demonstrated that the increase was, in part, to pay Kathy Nealy, a figure at the center of the public corruption investigation.

The jury also determined that Tantillo lied when she claimed that she called her former BearingPoint supervisor to confirm the charitable donation, when in fact, no such call was made.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Walt M. Junker and J. Nicholas Bunch, with Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Miller providing crucial support.

Tantillo will remain on bond until reporting for her sentence, which has not yet been set.

As the people of Dallas continue to reel from the fallout of this public corruption scandal, the conviction of Helen Tantillo serves as a stark reminder that those who lie to the FBI will be held accountable for their actions.

The sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks is a testament to the tireless efforts of the FBI and IRS investigators who worked tirelessly to bring Tantillo to justice.