Erie Man Sentenced to Prison for Preparing more than 1,000 False Income Tax Returns

ERIE, Pa. - A resident of Erie, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 12 months and 1 day in jail and ordered to make restitution in the amount of $324,817.00 on his conviction of violating federal income tax laws, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

United States District Judge David S. Cercone imposed the sentence on Roderick M. Jones, 54.

According to information presented to the court, Jones prepared and presented approximately 1,015 false and fraudulent individual income tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service. On each return, Jones falsely claimed the individual earned household help income which qualified them for the Earned Income Tax Credit and other credits increasing the refund paid to the individuals. Jones was paid $1,000 for his services and electronically filed the false returns with the IRS.

Assistant United States Attorney Marshall J. Piccinini prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Brady commended the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Jones.