Former New York Business Owner Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud

A former Auburn, New York, business owner pleaded guilty today in federal court in Syracuse to filing a false tax return, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith for the Northern District of New York. 

As alleged in court documents, Timothy Blackman, 48, was a self-employed contractor providing construction and remodeling services to customers. During the years 2007 through 2010, Blackman failed to file income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and failed to pay income taxes. After learning of an IRS criminal investigation in June 2010 concerning his income taxes, Blackman filed his 2007 individual tax return late, and willfully falsified that return by understating his true business receipts and total income from his construction and remodeling business. Blackman previously pleaded guilty to felony tax evasion in the Northern District of New York on March 19, 2004, for which he received a sentence of 15 months’ imprisonment.

Senior United States District Court Judge Norman A. Mordue scheduled sentencing for Feb. 17, 2020. The charge to which Blackman pleaded guilty carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison, one year of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.

This case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation, and it is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief John Kane and Trial Attorney Kathryn Sparks of the Tax Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael F. Perry.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.