Rojelio Martin, a 36-year-old from Tulare, California, is back in the federal crosshairs—pleading guilty to lying to a U.S. Probation Officer in a brazen bid to dodge court-ordered restitution from a past tax scam. The admission cements another chapter in a long-running fraud saga that’s cost victims nearly $45,000 and exposed systemic abuse in the tax preparation industry.
Martin, once a licensed tax preparer, was convicted in 2013 on 10 counts of wire fraud alongside co-defendant Roberto Olivares, after they ran ‘Success Income Tax Services’ as a front for filing false returns. That scheme landed Martin 33 months in federal prison and a three-year supervised release, with a restitution bill of $44,860. But instead of paying up, he vanished from accountability.
Starting April 2017, Martin stopped making any restitution payments. When pressed by authorities, he doubled down with deception. On or about December 13, 2017, he handed his supervising U.S. Probation Officer a forged letter allegedly from his doctor and a falsified earnings statement—both designed to paint a picture of medical hardship. The documents were fake. His excuses, flimsy.
The fraud didn’t fly. The Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, peeled back the layers, uncovering the paper trail of lies. What began as a financial crime metastasized into a case of federal obstruction—proving Martin didn’t just cheat taxpayers, he mocked the justice system itself.
Now facing sentencing on June 4, 2018, before Chief U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill, Martin could spend up to five more years behind bars and face a $250,000 fine. While the final sentence rests with the court, factoring in federal guidelines and statutory considerations, one thing is clear: the cost of lying keeps rising.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher D. Baker is prosecuting the case, underscoring the DOJ’s continued crackdown on financial fraud and probation violations. For Martin, the math is simple: crime, caught, compounded.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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