COLUMBUS - Katina Kefalos, age 49, of Weisheimer Road in Columbus was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment today for evading payment of $12,990.67 in business and personal income taxes, a sentence that was more severe than customary because of what the judge called her "obstructive behavior."

Gregory G. Lockhart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, announced the sentence in conjunction with Cromwell Handy, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division. Judge Algenon L. Marbley sentenced Kefalos.

A jury convicted Kefalos of tax evasion following a two-day trial in December, 2001. Evidence presented at trial showed that she evaded $12,990 in federal business and personal income taxes on money she received from working as a real estate agent and from a restaurant she owned.

In court, Judge Marbley said the sentence was more severe than otherwise expected because of Kefalos' "repeated obstructive behavior." Kefalos discharged five court-appointed defense attorneys, filed numerous spurious documents with the court and filed liens on the property of the Clerk of Courts and one of her appointed attorneys.

"Various filings show that Kefalos claimed to be a 'non-taxpayer' and 'non-filer' who insisted that her interpretation of the law was sufficient for her circumstances," Lockhart said. "At sentencing, however, it was made clear that only courts established according to Article III of the Constitution have the authority to interpret the Internal Revenue laws for everyone within U.S. jurisdiction."

"To be sure that all taxpayers pay their fair share of taxes, the law provides criminal punishment for those who willfully cheat the system," Handy said.

Lockhart commended the investigative efforts of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Brown who prosecuted the case.