PANORAMA CITY : Tax Preparer Given Prison Sentence

A 36-year-old man was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison for preparing four false federal income tax returns that included $108,000 in phony deductions.

Danny Charles Gray of Panorama City, who had pleaded guilty in the case, was paid $1,810 for preparing the false returns. Assistant U.S. Atty. Joy Krystofiak said he charged customers about 10% of their refunds.

“He holds himself out during tax season as a tax preparer,” she said. “He tells people that at one time he was an IRS agent.”

In sentencing Gray, U.S. District Judge A. Wallace Tashima said the case was particularly egregious since the defendant had been convicted in 1987 of preparing false state income tax returns.

Tashima also fined Gray $6,000 and ordered him to be placed on three years of supervised release once he is out of prison, during which time he is not to prepare tax returns.