Hattiesburg Man Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud

Hattiesburg, Miss. – Charles Chandler Smith, 43, of Hattiesburg, pled guilty today before Senior U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett to filing a false tax return, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Internal Revenue Service Acting Special Agent in Charge James Dorsey of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s Atlanta Field Office.

According to the facts revealed at his plea hearing, in 2014, Smith took advantage of a tax deduction strategy to deduct money on his tax return and thereby reduce his taxable income.  Smith transferred a total of $1,305,090 from an account held by his business, Lil Mad, to another company and falsely claimed it as a business expense deduction on his 2014 tax return.  Smith falsely claimed that his income with Lil Mad was only $143,070.  Smith admitted to knowing this act was unlawful or deliberately blinded himself to suspicious aspects of the deduction, particularly the fact that the money was soon transferred back to an account that was available to Smith for his personal use.

Smith will be sentenced on March 24, 2021 by Judge Starrett.  He faces a maximum penalty of 3 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI.  It was prosecuted by DOJ Health Care Fraud Trial Attorney Sara Porter and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathlyn R. Van Buskirk.