
WICHITA, KAN. – The former owners of a Wichita healthcare company have pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.
Gerard Lessard, 68, and his wife, Betty Lessard, 73, both of Wichita, former owners of ProActive Health Care, Inc., each pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false tax return. In their pleas, they admitted that in October 2005 they filed a joint federal tax return for the year 2004 in which they failed to report additional income totaling $858,789.
Sentencing is set for Sept. 12. Both parties have agreed to recommend Gerard Lessard be sentenced to six months of community confinement, followed by six months in home detention with electronic monitoring, followed by a year on supervised release. Both parties have agreed to recommend Betty Lessard be sentenced to six months of either community confinement or home confinement, followed by a year on supervised release. The Lessards also agreed they will be jointly and severally liable for restitution of $692,415.
Grissom commended IRS - CID and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Treadway for their work on the case.