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Yovanny Lopez

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Press Release

STUART TAX RETURN PREPARER SENTENCED

January 8, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Luis O. Rivera, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation Division, announced that defendant, David Ellis Klingelsmith, Sr., of Stuart, Florida, was sentenced on January 5, 2007 by United States District Court Judge Donald Graham to sixteen (16) months' imprisonment, followed by three (3) years of supervised release. Klingelsmith was also ordered to pay a $15,000 fine.

On August 3, 2006 a Ft. Pierce Grand Jury returned a Superseding Indictment charging Klingelsmith with ten (10) counts of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the due administration of the IRS, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7212(a), and two (2) counts of willfully making false statements or representations in an official matter, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001.

In October 2006, Klingelsmith pleaded guilty to one count of endeavoring to obstruct the due administration of IRS laws, and one count of willfully making false statements in an official matter.

Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Beth Sreenan.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

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