MICHAEL JACKSON29
A Carmel businessman whose company distributes Michael Jackson memorabilia was sentenced to two years in prison for tax evasion.Eugene Cappello, 57, admitted he dodged more than $200,000 he owed to the Internal Revenue Service by having paychecks issued to a family member who then deposited funds in bank accounts Cappello controlled. While underreporting his income to the IRS, Cappello used the hidden cash to buy a $34,781 country club membership and a $91,000 yacht.
Cappello owns Connecticut Marketing and Consulting, a company that sells Chinese-made Michael Jackson memorabilia to a company called Bravado, which has exclusive rights to sell such items connected to the deceased singer.
Cappello also has done the same for tours involving the Rolling Stones, Rob Zombie and another dozen bands, according to court papers filed by his lawyer, David Moraghan. In those papers, Moraghan asked U.S. District Judge Alvin Thompson to sentence Cappello to probation.
"He has suffered not only financially," Moraghan wrote, "but he has been humiliated as a result of the publicity inherent with a conviction."
Cappello pleaded guilty in August to tax evasion and illegally structuring money transactions.
Federal prosecutors asked Judge Alvin Thompson to sentence Cappello to the agreed upon range of 24 to 30 months, noting that at the same time Cappello was evading taxes he was living a "lavish lifestyle."
"This is an egregious case of tax evasion that warrants a period of incarceration," Assistant U.S. Attorney Raymond Miller wrote in a memorandum to Thompson.
In addition to the prison term, Cappello has also paid the IRS more than $400,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest.
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