Falmouth man sentenced for tax evasion, ordered to repay $590K to IRS

Date: Jan. 13, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Portland, ME – A Falmouth man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Portland for tax evasion.

Chief U.S. District Judge Lance E. Walker sentenced Jeffrey Riddle to three years of probation. Riddle was also ordered to pay $590,912 in restitution to the IRS. Riddle pleaded guilty on December 16, 2024.

According to court records, Riddle filed federal income tax returns for 2006 through 2014, reporting that he owed substantial federal tax. Despite reporting that he owed taxes, Riddle did not pay.

The IRS began trying to collect Riddle’s back taxes in 2010, filing notices of federal tax liens on property and levies on his bank account. In 2015, while still owing substantial back taxes, Riddle created a new business, Silica Marketing LLC, and entered into a lucrative consulting agreement with a large tire retailer. Riddle put the ownership of the company under his then-wife’s name despite the company’s sole revenue coming from his consulting work and using the proceeds to pay personal expenses. When meeting with the IRS revenue officer assigned to collect his back taxes, Riddle stated that he earned $6,000 a month in wages from Silica and provided the IRS with a falsified letter showing he would be paid a $3,000 bi-monthly salary. He failed to disclose that he had signed a consulting agreement as Silica’s president and CEO and that Silica was receiving substantial income from that contract. Riddle also failed to disclose that money paid to Silica was being used to pay his personal expenses. Among the expenses paid for with Silica funds was the down payment on a home on Great Diamond Island in 2016, purchased in Silica’s name.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.