United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner
Eastern District of California
Former South Lake Tahoe Resident Pleads Guilty To Claiming Excessive Federal Tax Withholdings And Investment Expenses
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Monday, September 10, 2012 |
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Docket #: 1:11-cr-00150 LJO |
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FRESNO, Calif. — Gwen Noel Luckette, 59, formerly of South Lake Tahoe, pleaded guilty today to filing a false claim with the IRS, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
According to court documents, Luckette filed a fraudulent 2008 tax return in July 2009 claiming excessive federal tax withholding and investment expenses that she did not incur. Luckette had failed to file a return for the previous six years at least. As a result of the false tax return, she obtained a $605,692 refund. Luckette admitted today that she aided and abetted in the filing of the 2008 false tax return.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Stanley A. Boone is prosecuting the case.
Luckette is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill on December 10, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. She faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison, restitution, and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
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