Glastonbury Man Convicted On Tax Fraud Charges: Feds

GLASTONBURY, CT — A Hartford attorney has been convicted in a tax fraud case, according to federal prosecutors. Deron Freeman, 47, of Glastonbury, was convicted on three counts of making and subscribing a false tax return and four counts of failure to pay income tax.

At sentencing, he will face up to 13 years in prison.

According to prosecutors, Freeman, owner and operator of The Law Offices of Deron Freeman in Hartford, fell severely behind on his federal tax payments and failed to pay his overdue tax balance, despite numerous notices of delinquent taxes and interest charges by the IRS.

In 2010, the IRS initiated a collection action against Freeman for the 2007, 2008, and 2009 tax years.

In 2011, soon after Freeman entered into a payment plan with the IRS, he began using a bank account in the name of a third party to hold hundreds of thousands of dollars to protect the funds from IRS scrutiny, according to prosecutors.

By June 2012, Freeman made sufficient tax payments so that the IRS removed a lien against Freeman for the 2008 tax year.

Shortly thereafter, Freeman transferred more than $248,000 from the third-party account to his personal money market account. Freeman then filed false tax returns for 2011, 2012, and 2013, failing to pay taxes on approximately $950,000 in income in those years, and also failing to pay significant taxes owed for the 2014 and 2015 tax years, according to prosecutors.

The evidence at trial revealed that Freeman spent lavishly on cars and watercraft and, between 2012 and 2016, spent approximately $1.5 million constructing a new home.

Freeman is released on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing.