Maryland Security Guard Charged With Tax Evasion

An indictment was unsealed on Friday charging a Maryland security guard with six counts of tax evasion.

A federal grand jury in Greenbelt, Maryland returned an indictment on Dec. 22, 2021, charging Gaston Gilberto Reyes, of Germantown, with not filing income tax returns for 2015 through 2020. As a result, he allegedly did not report to the IRS more than $1 million in total wages from jobs at seven different security firms in the D.C. metropolitan area. During the same period, Reyes allegedly also submitted false tax forms to his employers, claiming he was exempt from federal income tax withholding. This caused the employers to allegedly withhold little or no federal income taxes from his wages.

The defendant made his initial court appearance on Jan. 14 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. If convicted, Reyes faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on each of the tax evasion charges. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial attorneys Melissa S. Siskind and George Meggali of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.