Update: Annandale Plumber Found Guilty of Endeavoring to Impede IRS

Update Friday, Dec. 9 at 5:30 p.m.

Richard Jaensch, a self-employed plumber from Annandale, was found guilty of one count of corruptly endeavoring to impede the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), one count of filing a false claim for a refund, and four counts of failing to file tax returns for 2004 through 2007 on Wednesday, Dec. 7 by a federal jury in Alexandria Circuit Court.

According to the Department of Justice, Jaensch will be sentenced on March 2, 2012. He faces a potential maximum prison sentence of 12 years and a fine of up to $900,000.

Jaensch's wife, Janet Jaensch, pleaded guilty to willfully failing to file a tax return. She will be sentenced on Dec. 13.

Original post on Nov. 29:

Annandale resident Richard Jaensch, 53, will stand trial this week in Alexandria Circuit Court for failing to file personal income tax returns between 2001 and 2007.

Jaensch, a self-employed plumber, was indicted in March 2011 by an Alexandria federal grand jury on one count of corruptly endeavoring to impede the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), one count of filing a false claim for a refund and four counts of failing to file a tax return for 2004 through 2007.

According to the indictment, Jaensch also electronically filed with the IRS a false individual income tax return in April 2008 claiming a tax refund of $774,052, which he knew to be false and fraudulent.

Jaensch also allegedly persuaded his wife, Janet Jaensch, a federal employee, to send regular letters between 2002 and 2009 asking the Navy to stop withholding federal income taxes from her salary. Janet claimed she was not required to file federal income tax returns and the Navy did not withhold close $200,000 from her wages for more than five years, according to the Department of Justice.

Janet pleaded guilty to one count of failure to file a 2008 federal income tax return in April 2011. According to court documents, she admitted to receiving $152,725 in gross income in 2008, failing to file tax returns between 2002 and 2009, and not paying $226,685 in taxes to the IRS. Her sentencing was scheduled for Aug. 16, 2011.

This will not be Jaensch’s first time in court. Back in 2008, he was found guilty of producing false diplomatic credentials while traveling through airport and Fairfax County courthouse security, according to the Washington Post.

The trial is set to begin on Tuesday, Nov. 29 and last for a one week. If convicted, Jaensch faces a maximum potential sentence of 12 years in prison.