Defendant used fraudulent trust to evade more than $500,000 in taxes Date: August 25, 2023 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov John Everson, of Liberty Center, Ohio, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for evading taxes by using a sham trust to conceal income he earned from his electrical engineering business. A federal jury convicted Everson in October 2022 of three counts of tax evasion. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, from approximately 2009 through 2016, Everson earned more than $2.3 million in income from the business. He attempted to conceal much of this income and evade the IRS by instructing clients to make payments to a trust that he controlled. Everson used the trust money to pay personal expenses and make large cash withdrawals. He also funneled some of the trust funds to other bank accounts held in the names of non-profit organizations that he and several family members controlled, even listing his home and airplane in the name of a non-profit organization. In total, Everson’s conduct caused a loss to the IRS of $658,487. In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey J. Helmick for the Northern District of Ohio ordered Everson to serve two years of supervised release and pay restitution to the United States. Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Rebecca C. Lutzko for the Northern District of Ohio made the announcement. IRS-Criminal Investigation investigated the case. Trial Attorney Sarah Ranney of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gene Crawford for the Northern District of Ohio prosecuted the case.
