Date: April 26, 2024 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov An Inglewood man has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for willfully underreporting income he received for construction services, causing a tax loss of nearly a half million dollars, IRS Criminal Investigation announced today. Porfirio Estrada was sentenced on Wednesday by United States District Judge Mark C. Scarsi, who also ordered him to pay $446,575 in restitution to the IRS. Estrada pleaded guilty on September 11 to one count of willfully aiding and assisting in the filing of a false income tax return. Judge Scarsi ordered Estrada to surrender to the Federal Bureau of Prisons by May 6. Estrada willfully filed false tax returns for the tax years 2015 to 2017. Specifically, he willfully underreported his income by nearly $3.2 million, income gained through roofing and other contracting services he provided either through his LLC or individually. Instead of depositing checks received for his services, Estrada would take them to check-cashing services and not inform his tax preparer of the income. “Mr. Estrada had multiple opportunities to accurately report his income,” said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office. “Over a period of three years he willfully and knowingly defrauded the U.S. government and placed additional tax burden on the shoulders of hardworking taxpayers, and now he’ll feel the repercussions of his actions.” IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Alexander P. Robbins of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California prosecuted this case. IRS:CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, boasting a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.
