Maryland security guard sentenced to two years in prison for tax evasion

 

Defendant did not pay taxes on over 1.6 million dollars in wages

Date: September 5, 2023

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

A Maryland security guard was sentenced to 24 months in prison today for tax evasion.

In December 2022, Gaston Gilberto Reyes of Germantown was convicted of six counts of tax evasion following a jury trial. According to court documents and the evidence presented at trial, Reyes did not file income tax returns for the years 2011 through 2020 and thus did not report more than $1.6 million in income from his employment as an armed security guard at federal buildings in Maryland. In addition to not filing tax returns, Reyes provided his employers with false Forms W-4 claiming he was exempt from federal income tax withholding, causing little or no federal income taxes to be withheld from his wages. In total, Reyes caused a tax loss to the IRS of more than $330,000.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel ordered Reyes to serve three years of supervised release and pay restitution in the amount of $219,167 to the United States.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department's Tax Division made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Melissa S. Siskind and George Meggali of the Tax Division prosecuted the case.