Peoria, Ill. – A Morton, Ill., man, Christopher A. Quisenberry, has been ordered to serve 41 months (3 years, 5 months) in federal prison for filing a false federal income tax return and money laundering. On Friday, Mar. 11, U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm sentenced Quisenberry, who was previously employed with a Bloomington, Ill., car dealership as the finance and office manager. According to court documents, Quisenberry, 36, was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,526,205 to his former employer. Quisenberry was ordered to report on May 10, 2011, to the Federal Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his sentence.

On Nov. 29, 2010, Quisenberry waived indictment and entered a plea of guilty to a two-count information charging him with one count each of filing a false tax return with the IRS and money laundering. According to court documents, Quisenberry admitted that he transferred $17,180 to purchase a BMW vehicle, knowing that the money was derived from wire fraud. Quisenberry also admitted that he filed an individual income tax return with the IRS falsely stating that his gross income for calendar year 2007 was $83,172, when he knew his income was actually $309,814. Quisenberry agreed to cooperate with the IRS in the assessment and collection of any taxes due.

Quisenberry further admitted that in September 2005, when his employer began using direct deposit employee payments, he began manipulating fund transfers from his employer’s account to his checking and savings accounts. Quisenberry admitted that he raised the dollar amounts by hundreds or thousands of dollars per paycheck above his actual salary. Quisenberry also used his employer’s account to wire funds to pay his personal credit card balances for personal and family expenses, and to deposit funds into a friend’s account. This activity continued through October 2009. Quisenberry admitted that as a result of the fraud, he received approximately $1.5 million more than he was due in authorized salary and dealership bonuses.

The charges were investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division and the Bloomington Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Campbell.