United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

DANBURY MAN SENTENCED TO 21 MONTHS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR TAX EVASION, ILLEGAL FIREARM POSSESSION

Nora R. Dannehy, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CHARLES DONALD LANE, JR., 63, of Danbury, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Alfred V. Covello in Hartford to 21 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release.  On June 4, 2008, LANE pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and one count of being a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, LANE owned and operated D & L Tractor Trailer Training School (D&L), which offered instruction to students seeking to obtain their Class A or Class B truck driver’s licenses.  D&L also provided practical training to students, and charged them tuition to attend the school.  The business generated significant amounts of income, including cash.

From 1999 to 2003, LANE devised a scheme to skim a substantial amount of D&L’s cash receipts and failed to report this income to the IRS.  In order to carry out his scheme to skim cash from D&L, LANE instructed employees to solicit cash payments from prospective students offering discounts for “cash deals,” and personally offered discounts on tuition to those students willing to make payments in cash.  Also, as part of his scheme to ensure that cash receipts were not reported to the Internal Revenue Service, LANE ordered his employees to turn over all cash payments directly to him, and further directed them not to deposit any cash into the bank account of the business without his express authorization.  As a result of this conduct, for the tax years 1999 through 2003, LANE failed to pay approximately $154,860 in taxes to the IRS.

LANE is required to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $229,000.89, which represents $154,860 in back taxes plus interest of $74,140.83.

In addition, LANE, a previously convicted felon, knowingly possessed approximately 31 firearms, 9884 rounds of assorted ammunition (as well as assorted cartridge casings and firearms magazines), and eight illegal explosive devices.  These items were seized from LANE’s residence on March 2, 2005.

It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess firearms or ammunition that have moved in interstate or foreign commerce.

This matter was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Murphy.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov