Mansfield Tax Preparer Sentenced To 36 Months In Federal Prison And Ordered To Pay More Than $1.6 Million In Restitution

FORT WORTH, Texas — At a sentencing hearing held today before U.S. District Judge John McBryde, Michelle Johnson was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $1.6 million in restitution, following her guilty plea in August 2013 to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns.  Today’s announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

During the hearing, Johnson stated that she is a resident of Mansfield, Texas.  According to the defense’s motion for downward variance, filed in December 2013, Johnson is 37-years-old and the owner of 3D Tax Services, a tax preparation business.

In January 2010, according to the factual resume filed in the case, Johnson prepared a 2009 federal tax return for an individual that was false and fraudulent in that it grossly inflated expenses associated with this individual’s auto detailing business.  This individual’s business expenses were thousands of dollars less than what Johnson claimed on the Schedule C which she prepared and attached to the return without the taxpayer’s knowledge.

The case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.