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Press Release

Former Broward County Tax Preparer Sentenced For Contempt Of Court

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida


Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and José A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announce that Dianelys Armengol Guevara, 28, of Pembroke Pines and Dallas, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn to 30 months in prison followed by 12 months of supervised release. Dianelys Armengol Guevara previously pled guilty to a one-count information charging her with contempt of court for violating a court order forbidding her from acting as a tax preparer.

According to the factual proffer filed in court, Guevara worked as a professional tax preparer at Liberty Tax Services, in Hollywood, from 2005-2009. In 2010, the Department of Justice Tax Division filed a civil complaint against Guevara, based on a civil IRS investigation, alleging that Guevara filed tax returns improperly claiming First Time Homebuyer Credits, various education credits, deductions, and expenses. In January 2011, U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga entered a judgment which permanently barred Guevara from acting as a federal tax return preparer. However, on or about January 13, 2011, Guevara began willfully disobeying that judgment by continuing to prepare, and assist in preparing, federal tax returns, from her home in Pembroke Pines. Guevara admitted to preparing approximately 130 federal tax returns after the Court entered its bar order. Audits by the IRS found that many of the returns prepared by Guevara also made illegitimate claims to education credits and other deductions, resulting in an average under-payment of approximately $3,358 per return.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared M. Strauss.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Updated March 12, 2015