Date: February 17, 2022 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Austin, TX — A Central Texas man was sentenced, February 17, to 12 months and one day of confinement for failing to file his personal income tax returns and failing to pay taxes to the IRS. According to court documents, David Evan Schanzle, of Manor, Texas, stopped filing tax returns and paying taxes from 2001 until shortly before being sentenced. "The term voluntary compliance means that each of us is responsible for filing a tax return when required and for also paying the correct amount of tax," said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Ramsey E. Covington, of the Houston Field Office. "Mr. Schanzle chose to ignore his duty to file or pay his accurate amount of taxes and is now a convicted felon with a prison term to serve. We should not forget that the ultimate victims in tax fraud cases are the people of the United States, those honest and diverse taxpayers who do diligently file an accurate tax return each year, and IRS CI will continue to vigorously pursue the few individuals who don't." Schanzle owned a for-profit business, Gardens of the Ancients, which sold medicinal and culinary herbs, and he owned a related organization, Flower of Life Healing Ministries, since 2000. The average annual sales at Gardens of the Ancients during the years 2013 through 2017 exceeded $850,000 and the business was profitable earning a combined net profit of at least $490,000 during those same years. Additionally, Schanzle was the beneficiary of a trust, from which he received more than $90,000 from 2013-2017. Schanzle received written communications from the IRS that notified him of his obligation to file and pay income taxes. Court documents show he responded to the IRS that he was not a U.S. Citizen and instead stated that he was a "Nonimmigrant/Nonresident Alien Nontaxpayer." He also failed to keep adequate books and records for his business and concealed the wages he paid to his employees by paying them only in cash. Additionally, Schanzle did not issue Forms W-2 or 1099 to his employees and instructed them to refer to themselves as "volunteers." Schanzle was indicted by a grand jury in Austin, Texas, and subsequently arrested by Federal Agents with IRS CI in November 2019. He ultimately plead guilty to one count of willfully attempting to evade and defeat income tax in violation of Title 26, 7201, in June 2021. At sentencing, Judge Lee Yeakel also ordered Schanzle to pay a fine of $55,000, restitution to the IRS consisting of the $163,125 in income taxes he owed for the charged years of 2013-2017 plus an additional $43,451.97 in interest for a total amount of $206,576.97, and a special assessment of $100. Additionally, Schanzle will have three years of supervised release to serve upon the completion of his 12 months and one day of confinement. IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case, which was prosecuted by the Western District of Texas U.S. Attorney's Office. The IRS CI's Houston Field Office encompasses the U.S. District Court's Southern and Western districts of Texas, stretching from Houston to El Paso and from Waco to Corpus Christi. Due to the proximity to the Mexican international border and having some of the fastest-growing cities and counties in the United States within its jurisdiction, Houston Field Office special agents work a variety of cases, emphasizing traditional tax-related crimes such as employment tax, corporate fraud, identity theft, unscrupulous return preparers and general fraud. The Houston Field Office also provides crucial support to task forces involving counterterrorism, public corruption, human trafficking, drugs, and complex money laundering violations.
