Dracut Attorney Sentenced for Filing False Tax Returns

BOSTON – A Dracut attorney was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for filing false federal tax returns.

John F. Paczkowski, 73, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole to six months in prison, one year of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $192,974.  In November 2016, Paczkowski pleaded guilty to two counts of filing false personal tax returns for 2009 and 2010. 

Paczkowski operated a legal office in Dracut as a sole practitioner.  In this capacity, he was required by the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers and the Rules of Professional Conduct to hold client funds in a trust account separate from his own funds.  However, Paczkowski embezzled and misappropriated funds from the trust account and used clients’ funds for his own uses.  Paczkowski failed to report to the IRS more than $630,000 he took from clients and failed to pay more than $192,000 in federal taxes. 

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Joel P. Garland, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor A. Wild of Weinreb’s Economic Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.