A federal judge sentenced a Mission tax preparer to the maximum amount of time in prison following her conviction for preparing false and fraudulent tax returns, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office.
Linda Lopez, owner and operator of Premier Tax Solutions in Mission, pleaded guilty April 7 and has been sentenced to serve the statutory maximum of three years in prison followed by a year of supervised release.
Following her guilty plea, the government filed a motion to dismiss the remaining eight counts in the indictment.
U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez noted that she was imposing the maximum sentence allowed because of the lengthy duration of the tax fraud scheme Lopez perpetuated.
Lopez was convicted of filing a total of $460,359 in fraudulent deductions between 2016 and 2017.
“At the time of her plea, Lopez admitted that she prepared a federal tax return for a taxpayer that included multiple instances of false and fraudulent information, including false employee business expenses and false residential energy credit qualifying expenses,” the release said.
In the indictment, prosecutors had alleged that Lopez trained, instructed and directed her employees to file fraudulent tax returns.
She was permitted to remain free on a $50,000 bond and voluntarily surrender to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility if she maintained employment.
