Texas Artist Pleads Guilty to Failure to File Income Tax Return

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2016-04-22

A San Antonio, Texas, artist pleaded guilty on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio to one count of failure to file a tax return, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

According to court documents, Carlos Cortes is an artist who works in the medium of “Faux Bois,” an artistic imitation of wood or wood grains in various media. Cortes’ work has been commissioned by the City of San Antonio along with several San Antonio businesses. According to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) records, Cortes did not file individual income tax returns for 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 despite earning gross income well in excess of the filing requirements. Cortes admitted that he had gross income of $62,043 in 2006, $66,138 for 2007, $457,192 for 2008 and $781,847 for 2009.

Cortes will be sentenced on June 21. He faces a statutory maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. As part of his plea agreement, Cortes agreed to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $404,433 to cover the tax due and owing for the years 2006 to 2009.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

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