Gilmore City Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Filing False Tax Returns and Theft of Government Funds

A Gilmore City, Iowa man who owned and operated a tax return preparation business was sentenced August 25, 2020 to more than 1 year in federal prison.

David Miller, age 52, from Gilmore City, IA, received the prison term after pleading guilty to three counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent income tax returns and three counts of receiving stolen government money or property.

In a plea agreement, Miller admitted that he owned and operated a tax return preparation business.  He further admitted that while operating that business, he prepared fraudulent income tax returns.  The fraudulent returns that Miller prepared between 2011 and 2016 resulted in a total loss to the government of $125,954.  Miller also stole money from his clients by depriving them of part of their tax refunds.  Miller also failed to report the stolen funds as income, which resulted in an additional tax obligation for himself of $30,752.  In his plea agreement, Miller agreed to pay a total of $156,706 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

“Miller abused his position as a tax preparer to steal from both the American taxpayer and Miller’s own clients,” said United States Attorney Peter E. Deegan, Jr.  “I thank the Internal Revenue Service for its hard work in protecting the integrity of the tax system.  Together, the United States Attorney’s Office and the Internal Revenue Service will continue to hold tax preparers accountable when they commit fraud and abuse.”    

“Today’s sentencing of Mr. Miller again emphasizes that the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue their pursuit of those who would attempt to defraud America’s tax system,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Adam Steiner. “Taxpayers should be careful in selecting the tax professional who prepares their returns.”

Miller was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Miller was sentenced to 12 months’ and 1 day imprisonment.  He was ordered to pay restitution to the victims in this case—numerous individual tax payers and the IRS.  He must also serve a 2-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Miller will report to the Bureau of Prison’s as directed by the United States Marshals Service. 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ron Timmons and investigated by the Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 20-CR-3004.

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