Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jose A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID), announce the guilty plea of defendant Maurice Rodriguez, of North Miami Beach, Florida, to two charges that he willfully filed false personal income tax returns, and six charges that he aided in the preparation of numerous false federal income tax returns. Sentencing is scheduled for June 8, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Seitz.

More specifically, Rodriguez pled guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry L. Garber in Miami, Florida to Counts 1 and 2 of the indictment, which charged him with knowingly making and subscribing a false Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns, for calendar years 2005 and 2006. In this regard, Rodriguez admitted to inflating his wife’s income, and other business expenses in 2005 and 2006, and filing the tax returns with the IRS knowing that the returns were not accurate as to every material matter, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206 (1).

Rodriguez also pled guilty to Counts 3, 10, 15, 19, 23, and 39, which charged him with assisting and advising in the preparation and presentation of fraudulent income tax returns to the IRS, in violation of 26 U.S.C. Section 7206(2). Rodriguez admitted that he prepared and caused the submission of U.S. Individual Tax Returns claiming tax refunds on behalf of various taxpayers, knowing that these returns contained materially false information. Specifically, Rodriguez knew that the tax returns falsely represented, among other things, the taxpayers’ income, tax withholdings, and allowable deductions and expenses, including unreimbursed employee business expenses and other job-related expenditures.

Rodriguez faces a maximum statutory term of imprisonment of up to three years for each count of filing false individual tax returns and three years as to each of the preparation and presentation of fraudulent income tax return counts.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CID. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia Wood.

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A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.