Trying to avoid paying his income taxes has resulted in a one-year prison sentence for a Beaumont lawyer.
Attorney Craig J. Schexnaider was sentenced to 12 months in prison on Jan. 14 by U.S. magistrate Judge Zach Hawthorne. He will also have to pay a $5,000 fine and serve one year of supervised release. He must also pay his tax liability of $98,805.57 to the U.S. Treasury.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's office, Schexnaider had gross income of $140,000 for the calendar year 2008.
"And, even after he requested a six-month extension for the filing of his 2008 federal individual income tax return and the Department of the Treasury approved his request and granted an extension until October 15, 2009, Schexnaider willfully failed to file his 2008 federal individual income return by October 15, 2009 as required by law," the release states.
The sentencing resulted from a Bill of Information that was filed in November 2013 charging Schexnaider with four counts of failing to file income tax returns when he had the following in gross income: $73,920 in 2007; $143,797 in 2008; $110,669 in 2009; and $43,740 in 2010. The government dismissed the remaining counts after sentencing.
The investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service and the case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William J. Flanagan.