A federal court in Portland, Ore., sentenced a former Oregon chemical company executive to serve 18 months in prison and pay a $50,000 criminal fine following his conviction on two counts of filing false federal income tax returns.Trevor Smith, the former vice president of sales for Raisio Western North America, was convicted in March on charges of filing false returns for the 1999 and 2000 tax years. While employed at Raisio, federal prosecutors said that Smith received approximately $350,000 in kickback payments from the former general manager of Georgia-based Chemical Products Technologies. Those payments were related to Raisio’s purchases of a pulping additive used to increase pulp yield, and were not claimed by Smith on his returns.
The charges against Smith were the third to arise out of an investigation in Georgia and Oregon. In June 2005, Patrick Crowe III pleaded guilty to a two-count felony charge for his participation in two conspiracies to commit mail fraud and deprive CPT of the honest services of its employees. He was sentenced to four months in prison, to two months in a halfway house, and to pay restitution to CPT in the amount of $52,130.
In March 2006, John R. Olsen pleaded guilty to two separate conspiracies to commit mail fraud and deprive CPT of the honest services of its employees and to two counts of filing false U.S. federal income tax returns. He is awaiting sentencing.
Smith was also sentenced to pay restitution for all taxes due, which will be determined by the Internal Revenue Service.
