Accountant sentenced for tax evasion after failing to report money embezzled from Alamogordo non-profit

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Marion L. Ledford, 67, of Alamogordo, New Mexico, was sentenced in federal court on Feb. 14 to one year and six months in prison for tax evasion for submitting a personal income tax return on April 28, 2016, that substantially underreported Ledford’s taxable income for 2015. Ledford pleaded guilty on Nov. 20, 2019.

According to the plea agreement and other court records, Ledford was a director for the Robert W. Hamilton Foundation, a non-profit organization providing scholarships to high school graduates in Otero County, New Mexico.  Ledford controlled the foundation’s finances without oversight. For over five years, Ledford used his position of trust to write checks to himself totaling $1,785,300 from the foundation’s accounts.

Ledford filed tax returns, prepared by the CPA firm where he was a partner, for 2011 to 2016 that reported some of his income, but he did not provide any information regarding the receipt of this additional income and did not report the additional money he embezzled from the foundation. As a result, in addition to taking money from the foundation, Ledford avoided payment of $629,289 in taxes owed to the United States.

Upon his release from prison, Ledford will be subject to three years of supervised release. Ledford was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,785,300 to the Robert W. Hamilton Foundation and shall pay $629,289 to the Internal Revenue Service.

The Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation investigated this case.  Assistant United States Attorney Richard C. Williams prosecuted the case.

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