Woman, 70, Ordered to Prison for Income Tax Evasion

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A federal judge on Thursday ordered a 70-year-old Grosse Pointe Woods woman to prison for 21 months for failing to pay income taxes on $700,000 she siphoned from her boss’s checking account to pay for a lavish shopping spree.

Janet Gentile was sentenced in U.S. District Court after pleading guilty in September to filing a false tax return, the Detroit Free Press reports. She was also ordered to pay nearly $220,000 in restitution to the IRS.

Gentile worked has worked for Sagres Partners, a business management firm in Grosse Pointe, for 12 years. She was the company’s business manager when she stole 216 personal checks from company owner, made them payable to “cash” and deposited them in her checking account.

Federal prosecutors said Gentile stole $739,139 from the business from 2008-2012, but under-reported her income during those years, cheating the IRS out of $219,123. She was never charged with embezzlement.

Gentile could have gotten up to 30 months in prison, but the prosecution argued for some leniency because of her age and health issues.