A Hartford-based attorney has been found guilty of federal tax fraud and faces up to 13 years in prison, according to the U.S. State’s Attorney for Connecticut’s office.
Earlier this week, Deron D. Freeman, 47, of Glastonbury, was found guilty by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden on three counts of filing false federal tax returns, which are felonies, and four counts of failing to pay his income taxes. He’s free on $100,000 bond pending his sentencing. The crimes carry a maximum prison sentence of 13 years.
Freeman, an attorney, is the owner of The Law Offices of Deron Freeman in Hartford.
The U.S. State’s Attorney’s office said Freeman fell behind on his federal tax payments between 2006-2010 and the IRS initiated a collection action against him in 2010.
A year later Freeman entered into a payment plan with the IRS, but evidence showed he began using a third party bank account to hold hundreds of thousands of dollars in an attempt to protect the money from the IRS noticing.
The U.S. State’s Attorney’s office said Freeman made sufficient tax payments by June 2012, so that the IRS removed a lien against him for the 2008 tax year. After that, Freeman transferred more than $248,000 from that separate third party account to his personal banking account.
In the years to follow, Freeman filed false tax returns for 2011, 2012 and 2013, failing to pay taxes on about $950,000 in income during those years. He also failed to pay taxes owed in 2014 and 2015.
Per the U.S. State’s Attorney’s office, evidence presented at Freeman’s trial showed he spent money on cars, watercraft, and about $1.5 million to build a new home between 2012-2016 while filing the false tax returns and failing to pay the taxes he owed.
