Chief Executive Sent To Prison And Ordered To Pay Back Nearly Two Million Dollars To The IRS For Tax Offense

Defendant was formerly CEO of Michigan BioDiesel

          GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN — Defendant John Gerald Oakley, age 66, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison based on his guilty plea to two counts of federal tax evasion, Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge announced today. Oakley, a resident of Dimondale, Michigan, was formerly the Chief Executive Officer of Michigan BioDiesel, a company based in Bangor, Michigan. Michigan Biodiesel claimed it was producing “an alternative fuel mixture,” which allegedly qualified as an excise tax-exempt fuel. Oakley was also ordered to pay back $1,923,443.50 to the Internal Revenue Service. The restitution money includes $1,867,122.50 of tax refunds improperly sent to Michigan BioDiesel and approximately $56,000 in personal federal taxes owed by Oakley.

          Acting U.S. Attorney Birge emphasized that his office will zealously prosecute crimes against the United States Treasury. “Cheating on your taxes is stealing from your neighbors.”

          A co-defendant, Tracy Darin Daniels, a 50-year-old resident of Mississippi, was sentenced to two years of probation based on his plea of guilty to misprision of a bankruptcy fraud. Daniels provided false documents to co-defendant Oakley, who then submitted them in a United States Bankruptcy Court case in the Western District of Michigan.

          This matter was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael A. MacDonald, Sally J. Berens, and Hagen W. Frank.

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