Luciano Dereas appeared in court with his counsel, Matthew Smith, and entered into a plea agreement with the prosecution, represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Schuler.
United States District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Alex R. Munson accepted the defendant’s guilty plea and set the sentencing for Sept. 8 at 10 a.m.
Munson ordered that a presentence investigation report must be submitted by Aug. 4, 2009.
The prosecution moved for the release of the defendant with conditions, to which the defense agreed.
The defendant will post an unsecured bond of $5,000, refrain from use or unlawful possession of narcotic drug or other controlled substances, refrain from use of alcohol, comply with prohibitions against traveling inside or outside of the district, surrender any passports and not obtain any duplicates.
The offense of aiding and assisting the preparation of a false tax return carries the maximum statutory sentence of three years in prison, a maximum fine of $100,000, the costs of prosecution and a $100 special assessment fee.
The defendant was indicted for assisting and advising the preparation and presentation of another person’s U.S. individual income tax return for calendar year 2005.
The indictment stated that the return was false and fraudulent as it represented the filer as having an address in Arkansas and that the filer was entitled to the earned income tax credit in the total sum of $5,480.
The defendant, however, knew that the filer did not live in Arkansas and he would not be able to receive any refund without listing a false address.
