Kenneth Wayne Wright Sentenced to 12 Months in Prison for Tax Evasion

Michael J. Moore, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, announced that Kenneth Wayne Wright, age 48, Dougherty County, Georgia, was sentenced to federal prison on Wednesday, November 7, by United States District Court Judge, W. Louis Sands, in Albany, Georgia.

Wright was sentenced to 12 months in the Bureau of Prisons; he was ordered to pay total restitution in the amount of $193,000 payable to the United States Treasury, Internal Revenue Service.  Following service of his sentence the defendant will be on 1 year of supervised release.

On August 17, 2012, Wright pled guilty to one count of aiding and abetting the filing of a false tax return, in violation of Title 26, U.S.C. Section 7206(2). 

Mr. Wright previously ran a tax preparation business in Albany, Georgia, called “Ken’s Fast E-File.” The defendant’s plea agreement stated that the he filed 44 false tax returns for 13 different tax payers during the period 2006-2008.  Defendant Wright caused the tax payers to receive a total of $193,000 in refunds to which they were not entitled.

“Return preparer fraud is like a contagious disease, it affects not only the preparer, but the individuals who have filed false information with Internal Revenue Service,” said Donald B. Yaden, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation.  “It is our hope that today’s sentence will send a strong message that tampering with the integrity of our nation’s tax system can result in jail time.”

The investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service and the case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jim Crane.