Tax preparation business owner sentenced for tax fraud

HOUSTON -- Charles Lee Harrison has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of willfully aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of a false tax return, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson along with Lucy Cruz, special agent in charge of Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). Harrison, the owner of a tax preparation business in Houston and Navasota, pleaded guilty June 16, 2014.

Today, U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes, who accepted the guilty plea, handed Harrison a 36-month sentence to be immediately followed by one year of supervised release. He was further ordered to pay $396,057 in restitution.

At the time of his plea, Harrison admitted he placed false items on a client's income tax return that caused a loss of more than $9,000. However, as part of his plea, Harrison stipulated that the relevant conduct for purposes of sentencing is approximately $396,057, which includes tax loss on other returns he prepared for others as well as his own.

Read more from The Examiner, a Houston Community Newspaper partner