Jury Convicts Peculiar Man of Tax Evasion

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Peculiar, Mo., man was convicted by a federal jury today of tax evasion.

Harold R. Stanley, 62, of Peculiar, was found guilty of one count of tax evasion and one count of endeavoring to obstruct and impede the due administration of the internal revenue laws.

Stanley, an electrical engineer, was hired by companies as a consultant and received $971,604 from self-employment from 2005 to 2009 as an independent contractor. Stanley failed to file any tax returns for 2005 and 2006.  For tax years 2007 through 2009, Stanley filed substantially correct returns but left the tax line entry blank and failed to submit any payment.

The total tax loss for 2005 through 2009 is $259,900.

Stanley submitted fake money orders for payment to the Internal Revenue Service, returned documents to the Internal Revenue Service claiming that the tax assessments were satisfied because they were “Accepted for Value,” filled out payment vouchers with his name in all capital letters but didn’t submit payment and submitted a false criminal referral to IRS – Criminal Investigation.

Under federal statutes, Stanley is subject to a sentence of up to eight years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

Following the presentation of evidence, the jury in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., deliberated for less than half an hour before returning the guilty verdict to U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark, ending a trial that began Tuesday, May 31, 2016.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.