Walpole Man Pleads Guilty to Filing a False Tax Return

BOSTON – A Walpole man pleaded guilty yesterday in connection with failing to report income from his landscaping business to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 

Stephen L. Petrucci, 57, pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false tax return before U.S. Senior District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr., who scheduled sentencing for Feb. 11, 2020. According to the terms of the plea agreement, the government will recommend a sentence of two years in prison, one year of supervised release, a fine, and restitution to the IRS of $726,789. 

Petrucci owes more than $700,000 in income taxes to the IRS after he failed to report income from his landscaping business on his federal tax returns for tax years 2012 through 2017. 

The charging statute provides a sentence of up to three years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $100,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.