Willis Texas Tax Return Preparer Sentenced for False Returns

HOUSTON – Doyle J. Blevins Jr. has been ordered to prison following his conviction related to the preparation of false client tax returns, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson along with Lucy Cruz, special agent in charge of Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). Blevins pleaded guilty in February 2015.

At a hearing held yesterday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Sim Lake handed Blevins a 24-month prison sentence. He was further ordered to pay $285,147 in restitution and will also be required to serve one year of supervised release following completion of the prison term.

Blevins owned and operated Total Refund Tax Service in Willis until 2012. Court documents show that Blevins included false deductions in at least 71 tax returns for tax years 2008 through 2010 without his clients’ knowledge or consent, which fraudulently increased their refunds by approximately $285,147. The most egregious fraudulent refund was obtained in a 2009 tax return that included a $23,248 loss for a non-existent family counseling business. This tax return alone caused an estimated loss to the U.S. Treasury of $7,351.

Blevins was permitted to remain on bond pending the issuance of an order to surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be designated in the near future.

The investigation leading to these charges was conducted by IRS-CI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jimmy Sledge Jr. is prosecuting the case.