Rochester Attorney Pleads Guilty to Filing False Tax Returns

          ROCHESTER, N.Y.-- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Salvatore J. Marcera, Jr., 52, of Rochester, N.Y., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr., to four felony charges of filing a false personal income tax return. Each count carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both.

            Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank H. Sherman, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant, a sole practitioner attorney in Rochester, acknowledged that the Government's proof would be sufficient to obtain a conviction on each of the four counts charging Marcera with filing a false tax return for tax years 2004 through 2007. The defendant understated the gross receipts of his law practice on the Schedule C of each return. The total of the unreported gross receipts for the four tax years as shown by the Government's proffered evidence was approximately $356,353. The Government offered evidence that, if the true gross receipts had been reported by defendant for each of the years in question, the total for the four years of additional tax due and owing would be $104,074.00.

            The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Toni Weirauch, New York Field Office.