CONVICTED TAX ATTORNEY OBSTRUCTED JUSTICE
BOSTON, Mass. - A Worcester attorney, previously convicted of tax evasion, was sentenced today to serve 33 months in federal prison. During the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor, IV, said that he took into account that the defendant lied to the court and engaged in misconduct during the course of judicial proceedings.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Susan Dukes, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Division, announced today that CHRISTOPHER M. UHL, 52, of Southborough, was sentenced by Judge Saylor, to 33 months imprisonment to be followed by 2 years of supervised release, $7,500 fine and $615, $796.54 in restitution.
In April, following a seven day trial, a jury found UHL guilty of six counts of tax evasion for failing to pay $233,000 in employment taxes. Between 2000 and 2005, he intentionally failed to pay the FICA and income taxes withheld from his employees’ paychecks, as well as his matching FICA contributions and unemployment tax. UHL made numerous false statements to IRS officials in order to further his goal of evading employment taxes.
At sentencing, Judge Saylor also found that UHL had obstructed justice by making false statements in affidavits filed in support of his pre-trial motions to dismiss and suppress statements. The court found that UHL intentionally lied to the Court in those affidavits in an effort to prevail on his pre-trial motions. The Court also noted that UHL sentence was based, in part, upon several instances of pre and post-trial misconduct. Specifically, UHL submitted false tax returns in order to qualify for two separate personal loan applications. He also filed 17 new bankruptcy cases for clients (and took payment from those clients) after his April tax fraud conviction – despite knowing that he would be losing his license to practice law and thus would be unable to complete work for those clients.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Hennessy and Karin M. Bell of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office.
