NORTH CAROLINA ATTORNEYS PLEAD GUILTY TO FAILING TO FILE TAX RETURNS

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Eileen J. O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division of the Department of Justice, and Nancy Jardini, Chief of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, announced that Williamston, North Carolina attorneys Regina and Milton Moore pleaded guilty today to willfully failing to file federal income tax returns, despite earning substantial income from their law practice, Moore and Moore. The pleas were taken in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, by U.S. District Judge Henry C. Morgan, Jr. Sentencing is scheduled for September 8, 2005.

“People who willfully fail to meet their tax obligations risk criminal prosecution and must still pay their taxes, along with interest and civil penalties,” said Assistant Attorney General Eileen J. O’Connor.

In entering her guilty plea, Mrs. Moore admitted that she willfully failed to file a timely federal income tax return. Mrs. Moore’s husband, Milton Moore, pleaded guilty to two counts of willfully failing to timely file federal income tax returns.

Each count of failure to file a tax return is punishable by up to one year in prison. In addition, a defendant may be required to pay a $250,000 fine and reimburse the government for the costs of prosecution.

Assistant Attorney General O’Connor thanked Tax Division trial attorneys Jennifer Peru and Jeffrey A. Neiman, who prosecuted the case. She also thanked the special agents of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Raleigh, North Carolina, whose assistance was essential to the successful investigation and prosecution of the case.

Additional information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.usdoj.gov/tax <http://www.usdoj.gov/tax>.

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