A convicted tax preparer who was sentenced to probation in 2012 has now received a prison sentence for continuing to prepare and file tax returns in violation of a court order.
Larry E. Snow, 65, of Seward, Pa., got a nine-month jail sentence, followed by 12 months of supervised release, for violating the terms of his three-year probation after he was convicted three years ago of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent individual income tax returns. As a condition of the probation imposed on him on July 26, 2012, Snow was prohibited from preparing tax returns for anyone except himself and his wife.
An IRS examination of a sample of returns that Snow prepared for 17 taxpayers from April 15, 2005 to April 15, 2009, showed that he prepared 63 false and fraudulent income tax returns, resulting in a tax loss of $98,414.
At the revocation hearing on April 21, 2015, Senior United States District Judge Maurice B. Cohill, Jr. determined that Snow had continued to prepare returns in violation of his probation. In imposing sentence, at the top of the three-month to nine-month range under the official sentencing guidelines, the judge stated that Snow’s actions were in “blatant disregard” of the court’s order.
