Rhode Island Couple Jailed for Tax Evasion

A married couple from Woonsocket, Rhode Island, was sentenced to prison yesterday for committing tax evasion and plotting to defraud the U.S. government, according to the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Albert Martin was sentenced to 51 months in prison, while his wife Lorraine received a prison sentence of one year and one day. Chief Judge Mary Lisi of the District of Rhode Island also ordered three years of supervised release for both parties.

According to the indictment against the couple, between 1997 and 2004 the defendants concealed income from a machine company they owned and operated by allegedly using personal accounts and private banking services.

To further hide their assets from the IRS the couple used multiple business names for Classic Machine such as Banner Technologies, Circle Machine and Royal Enterprises, according to court documents.

In addition to issuing prison sentences, Judge Lisi ordered Albert and Lorraine Martin to pay $463,988 to the U.S. Treasury in restitution.

In 2007, the IRS estimated that Americans owed about $345 billion more than they actually paid in taxes - about 14 percent of federal revenues for the fiscal year.