Tax fraud earns Palmetto man 4 years in prison

A Palmetto man was sentenced to four years in federal prison for tax fraud on Tuesday.

According to court documents, Samuel Priester filed 34 false income tax returns to the IRS in March 2012, claiming a total of $230,045. He was issued $152,418 in fraudulent tax refunds. The court ordered that Priester repay that amount to the IRS.

Priester reportedly used numerous unauthorized prepaid cards in the name’s of other people and used a ledger to keep track of which cards were “used,” “good” or “rejected.”

Assistant United States Attorney Kelley Howard-Allen prosecuted the case.

The Bradenton Police Department worked alongside the IRS Criminal Investigation Division on the case.

This story was originally published November 8, 2017 at 5:05 PM with the headline "Tax fraud earns Palmetto man 4 years in prison."