Florida Man Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Obstructing the IRS

A Florida man was sentenced to 36 months in prison today for corruptly obstructing the due administration of the internal revenue laws, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez for the Middle District of Florida.

According to evidence presented at trial, since 1999, Dennis J. Nagle, 67, refused to voluntarily pay federal income taxes. As a result, by 2014, he had an outstanding tax balance of more than $400,000. When the IRS attempted to collect Nagle’s unpaid taxes by filing liens and levying his paychecks and pension, Nagle obstructed the IRS’s collection efforts. Nagle submitted false forms to his employer claiming he was exempt from federal tax withholding, attempted to pay off his tax debts with checks written on a closed bank account, and threatened to file criminal complaints against IRS collection officers. In total, Nagle sent the IRS at least 15 worthless payments, purportedly totaling more than $1.9 million dollars.

A jury convicted Nagle on Jan. 30, 2020.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron ordered Nagle to serve one year of supervised release and to pay approximately $221,502 in restitution to the United States.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Chapa Lopez commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorney Lauren Archer of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Gable, who prosecuted the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the Division’s website.