West Seneca Nurse Practioner Pleads Guilty To Tax Evasion

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
PHONE:          (716) 843-5817 
FAX:              (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Scott Leuthe, 43, of West Seneca, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara to tax evasion. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney MaryEllen Kresse, who is handling the case, said that between 2008 and 2011, Leuthe worked as a nurse a nurse practitioner for two diagnostic imaging businesses in the Western New York area. The defendant was paid as an independent contractor by both businesses but failed to report any of the income he received from one of the companies while claiming all the expenses he incurred in the performance of his duties there. Leuthe’s unreported income during this four-year period was in excess of $400,000. As a result, the defendant failed to pay approximately $134,000 in income taxes.

The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service, under the direction Special Agent-in-Charge Shantelle P. Kitchen.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 20, 2015 at 1:00 p.m. before Judge Arcara.