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BRIEF: Area man guilty of tax evasion
(The Dominion Post in Morgantown (WV) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Feb. 5--A Terra Alta resident pleaded guilty to tax evasion in an appearance Tuesday before U.S. District Court Judge Irene M. Keeley.
Melvin L. Owens, 64, entered the plea to a charge that he failed to report any personal income or pay any federal income taxes for tax year 2005, U.S. Attorney Sharon L. Potter said in a news release.
Instead of filing a personal income tax return (Form 1040), Owens filed a fraudulent trust return (Form 1041) that reported income of a nonexistent trust named "Melvin L. Owens," she said.
In this, he claimed deductions that equaled the purported income of the trust, resulting in $0 taxable income and $0 tax due. Even after IRS Special Agents confronted him in April 2007, Potter reported, Owens continued to file fraudulent trust returns and refused to either report personal income or pay federal income taxes.
Owens is free on bond pending sentencing. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $100,000.
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