Sentence Coming Thursday for Middlebury Man Guilty of False Taxes

Middlebury resident Richard A. Stevens is scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow, March 3, at 2:00 p.m. by Senior U.S. District Judge Alfred V. Covello in Hartford.

Stevens, 60, pleaded guilty August 11, 2010 before Covello to one count of willfully filing a false U.S. Tax Return.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Stevens owned F&S Oil Company, Inc. (“F&S Oil”), a now-defunct business that was based in Waterbury.

In pleading guilty, Stevens admitted that, during the 2006 and 2007 tax years, he charged personal expenditures that were unrelated to F&S Oil business on the company’s credit cards, including meals, travel, golf outings and equipment.  For the 2006 tax year, Stevens charged $113,733 in personal expenses to F&S Oil and, in 2007, he charged $115,667 in personal expenses to the company.

Stevens failed to report any of these expenditures on his personal federal tax returns for the 2006 and 2007 tax years, underpaying his federal taxes by a total of $79,186 for the two years.

Stevens faces a maximum term of imprisonment of three years and a fine of up to $250,000.  Stevens also will be required to pay back taxes, penalties and interest to the Internal Revenue Service.

The Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, investigated this matter.  Senior Litigation Counsel Christopher W. Schmeisser is prosecuting the case.