Chicago Insurance Agent Guilty of Failing to Pay Taxes on More Than $4.7 Million in Income

CHICAGO — A Chicago insurance agent has pleaded guilty to willfully failing to pay federal and state taxes on more than $4.7 million in income earned over a decade.

JOHN OCWIEJA admitted in a plea agreement that he willfully failed to pay income taxes for tax years 2006 to 2016, causing a combined loss to the United States and State of Illinois of more than $1.1 million.  During those years, Ocwieja earned a total income of more than $4.7 million as a licensed insurance agent and financial representative, the plea agreement states.

Ocwieja, 49, of Chicago, pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of willfully failing to file a federal tax return.  U.S. Magistrate Judge M. David Weisman set sentencing for Dec. 18, 2018, at 10:00 a.m.

The guilty plea was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Gabriel L. Grchan, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrianna Kastanek and Patrick King.

According to the plea agreement, Ocwieja earned more than $500,000 in three of the eleven years he failed to pay income taxes, and more than $300,000 in four other years.  Ocwieja acknowledged in the plea agreement that he used the funds for personal matters instead of satisfying his tax liabilities.

The conviction carries a maximum total sentence of three years in federal prison.  The Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.