PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT: James K. Vines
United States Attorney
William M. Cohen
Assistant U.S. Attorney
NASHVILLE MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO FILING FALSE TAX RETURN
Nashville, TN - May 2, 2003 - James K. Vines, U.S. Attorney for the Middle
District of Tennessee, and Sherree W. Preston, Special Agent in Charge for the
Nashville Field Office of IRS Criminal Investigation, announced that Roderick
C. Pounds, Sr., 44, of Nashville, Tennessee, pled guilty to a one count information
charging him with filing a false tax return. According to the information filed
on February 27, 2003, Pounds filed a false Form 1040PC for calendar year 1999
with the IRS reporting $26,000 in employment income, when he actually received
approximately $61,677 in income that year.
During the plea hearing, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent Robert W.
McCorkle testified that Pounds moved to Nashville in 1995 to become the pastor
of a church then known as Pilgrim Emmanuel Baptist Church. At the beginning
of his employment with the church, Pounds instructed church personnel not to
withhold federal income tax from his wages, stating that he would take care
of his own taxes at the end of each year. The church complied with his request.
Pounds earned over $227,400 in wages from 1996 through 1999, requiring him to
file a tax return with the IRS each year.
According to McCorkle's testimony, Pounds failed to file federal income tax
returns for 1996, 1997 and 1998, with the IRS. Pounds filed a 1999 tax return
claiming wage income of $26,000, which was less than half of the $61,300 he
actually earned that year as the church pastor. Additionally, Pounds failed
to report wages he earned as working as a substitute teacher for the Metro Nashville
Public Schools system. McCorkle testified during the hearing that the government's
tax loss for 1996 through 1999 is $61,248.
Pounds faces a maximum of three years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000
when he is sentenced on July 25, 2003.