CONTACT: Gina Balaya (313) 226-9758

                      Stephen Moore, IRS CI (313) 628-3307

                      Vera Fedorak, ATF (313) 259-7917
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
 
 

Jeffrey Collins, United States Attorney, Mark Kroczynski, Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, and Gregory Holley, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) announced that on April 1, 2003, Frederick Lovelace, Grosse Pointe Woods, was sentenced to one year imprisonment, followed by two years supervised release. He must also cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service and file corrected tax returns, along with paying any tax due, interest and penalties. On September 12, 2002, Mr. Lovelace pleaded guilty to filing a false 1995 federal tax return, signed under penalties of perjury. Mr. Lovelace was earlier indicted on five counts of filing false returns, under penalties of perjury, and one count of possessing an unregistered machine gun. This sentence was imposed by United States District Court Judge John Feikens.

Mr. Collins stated, "The Detroit Police Department's Violent Crime Task Force, a multi-agency task force, involving local, state, and federal law enforcement, was instrumental in investigating and bring to a conclusion this scheme of blackmail involving Mr. Lovelace and his victim, Ralph Barbier, where over $300,000 was extorted from 1984 through 2000. Their investigation revealed the federal violations charged in the indictment, which included Mr. Lovelace's willful failure to report extortion income of at least a $1,000 per month on his tax returns."

Mr. Kroczynski stated, " The American system of taxation is based on the premise that all income is taxable, including illegally earned income. Mr. Lovelace, by collecting his extortion money and willfully attempted to evade or defeat the tax due on that income, violated federal tax laws and must suffer the consequences of his actions, which includes imprisonment and the payment of his tax due and owing to the Internal Revenue Service, along with interest and penalties."

Mr. Collins commends the Detroit Police Department's Violent Crime Task Force and the agents of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.