Crime Scene : Fairbanks businessman guilty of tax evasion

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Fairbanks businessman guilty of tax evasion

Posted by crimeblog

Posted: February 5, 2010 - 6:22 pm

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A Fairbanks businessman accused of dodging federal income taxes for eight years has been convicted on one count of felony evasion of payment of income tax, the U.S. attorney said Friday.

Roger Lee Shoffstall, 59, was convicted after a five-day jury trial of failing to pay about $133,000 in taxes, interest and penalties from 1996 to 2003, prosecutors said.

Shoffstall owns Summit Telephone and Telegraph Company of Alaska, which provides rural telephone service north of Fairbanks.

Shoffstall is facing a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the tax evasion charge at his sentencing set for April 16.

“Tax evasion is never a victimless crime in America,” Terence Zeznock, the supervisory special agent of IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Alaska, said in a statement.