Memphis, Tenn. - Edward L. Stanton, III, United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee,
announced today that Clayton Ray Smart, 71, of Wewoka, Oklahoma was sentenced by United States
District Court Judge Hardy Mays to sixty months incarceration, three years of supervised release, and
ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $14,568,355.

Smart was sentenced for income tax evasion for the years 2004 and 2005. The tax loss for 2004 and 2005 was $14,568,355. For the tax year 2004, Mr. Smart failed to report $12,355,000 in income with a tax due of $4,020,000. For the tax year 2005, Mr. Smart failed to report $30,220,979 in income with a tax due of $10,547,905. It was the position of the United States that the income derived by Smart was from syphoning off large sums of money from trust funds in both Tennessee and Mississippi. The trust funds were established to finance burial policies for cemeteries purchased by Smart.

Mr. Smart has entered guilty pleas in State Court in Shelby County, Tennessee and in the State Court of
Michigan.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service and prosecuted by Assistant United States
Attorney Larry Laurenzi.

 

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