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May 8, 2003
The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced that Sandra Lee Ross pled guilty yesterday to one count of Failure to File an Information Return, Form 8300, with the Internal Revenue Service in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7203.
Ms. Ross, 55, a resident of Redway, California, was indicted by a federal grand jury on November 12, 2002, with one count of Money Laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(3)(A), and twenty-eight counts of Failure to File a Return with the Internal Revenue Service in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7203.
In pleading guilty, Ms. Ross admitted that on August 16, 1999, she started a sole proprietorship, Generator-Parts-Service, also known as G.P.S., located at 1150 Evergreen Road, Suite 7, Redway, California, which she continued to own and operate through January 2, 2002, when she sold the business. Between September 3, 1999, and March 16, 2000, Ms. Ross sold thirty-four electric generators for cash, U.S. currency, totaling over $10,000 for each generator, for a total of $694,923.53. She knew or believed that the currency paid to purchase one of the generators was intended to promote an unlawful activity. Ms. Ross was aware that an IRS Form 8300, Report of Cash Payment Over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business, was required to be filed with the IRS for each of the thirty-four generators she sold where she received cash over $10,000. Despite this knowledge, Ms. Ross willfully did not file the required IRS forms for any of the thirty-four generators. Ms. Ross was the only person ultimately responsible for selling generators at G.P.S.
Ms. Ross is scheduled to be sentenced on August 27, 2003, before the Honorable Maxine M. Chesney in San Francisco. The maximum statutory penalty for the count of failure to file a return in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7203 is 6 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. However, the actual sentence will be dictated by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of factors, and will be imposed in the discretion of the Court.
The prosecution is the result of a lengthy investigation by Special Agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department and the Humboldt County Drug Task Force. AUSA Emily Kingston is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Stefania Chin and Kathy Tat.
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office's website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can. Related court documents and information may be found on the District Court website at www.cand.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.cand.uscourts/gov.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney's Office should be directed to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Jacobs at (415) 436-7181; fax (415) 436-7234; pager (888) 863-1957.
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