Tulare Man Pleads Guilty to Making False Statements to Probation Officer

FRESNO, Calif. — Rojelio Martin, 36, of Tulare, pleaded guilty today to making false statements to a U.S. Probation Officer, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, on May 20, 2013, Martin was sentenced to 33 months in prison and a three-year term of supervised release following his convictions on 10 counts of wire fraud. The convictions resulted from when Martin (then a licensed tax preparer) and codefendant Roberto Olivares fraudulently prepared personal tax returns for clients of “Success Income Tax Services,” a Tulare-based business Martin and Olivares formed and operated. The judgement against Martin required him to pay $44,860 in restitution.

Beginning in April 2017, Martin failed to make the court-ordered restitution payments. In support of his claim that his health-related absences from work prevented him from paying restitution, on or about December 13, 2017, Martin gave his supervising U.S. Probation Officer a fraudulent and forged letter from his doctor and a fraudulent statement of earnings.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher D. Baker is prosecuting the case.

Martin is scheduled to be sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill on June 4, 2018. Martin faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.