Date: August 24, 2023
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A Purvis man was sentenced to 34 months in federal prison for assisting in the preparation of a materially false tax return, announced U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and acting Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Atlanta Field Office.
Terance Dewune Price was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Hattiesburg. In addition to his term of imprisonment, Price was ordered to pay a $15,000 fine and $58,582 in restitution to the IRS.
According to court documents, Price was identified in an investigation by the IRS-CI as a tax preparer who assisted in the preparation and presentation to the IRS of a false Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, for an individual, A. E., for the calendar year 2017. The investigation revealed that the return was false and fraudulent as to a material matter in that the information provided on line 53, a ¡°Residential Energy Credit¡±, and information on line 64, for ¡°Federal Income Tax Withheld from Form 1099,¡± was false, and the defendant knew it was false.
¡°Providing clients assistance in complying with current tax laws when submitting federal returns is a responsibility Terance Price unlawfully failed to do,¡± said Demetrius Hardeman, acting Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office. ¡°Dishonest tax preparers who use their knowledge of the tax system to work around it should look at Price¡¯s sentencing as a warning that IRS Criminal Investigation and our law enforcement partners will hold them accountable for cheating the government.¡±
Price pled guilty on April 17, 2023 to assisting in the preparation of a materially false tax return.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Jones prosecuted the case.