Roanoke tax service owner lied on his and his clients' taxes

ROANOKE, Va. – The owner of a tax return preparation service in Roanoke pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to tax fraud.

Saint Julien Pierre faced charges of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns and filing a false personal tax return.

Court documents show Pierre owned and operated JP Tax Services LLC in Roanoke.

He aided and assisted in the preparation of 2013 and 2014 tax returns that falsely claimed energy-related credits and illegitimate itemized deductions in order to fraudulently increase his clients’ refunds, according to Thomas T. Cullen, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia.

Pierre also filed a false 2013 tax return for himself, on which he fraudulently reported that he was entitled to the same fuel tax credit he falsely claimed on his clients’ returns.

Pierre faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison for each count of preparing false tax returns and three years in prison for the false tax return count.

He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.