A 71-year-old accountant from Colorado Springs, CO, was sentenced last month to 30 years in prison for tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Rodney Ermel was also given three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $8,087,385 in restitution to the IRS.
Ermel was indicted on nine felony charges, including conspiracy, tax evasion, filing false returns, aiding and assisting in filing false returns, and wire fraud in March 2024, according to court documents.
As part of a plea deal, Ermel pleaded guilty last April to two felonies: conspiracy and tax evasion, according to court records. The other seven charges were dropped.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Ermel owned and managed Rod Ermel & Associates, an accounting firm based in Colorado Springs. Along with co-defendant Kenneth Bacon, Ermel provided accounting and tax preparation services for co-defendant Joseph LaForte, LaForte’s wife, and co-defendant Lisa McElhone, and their business entities. Ermel conspired with LaForte, Bacon, and others to hide approximately $20 million in income.
He did this through various fraudulent accounting practices, such as fabricating shareholder loans and “bad debt” deductions. Ermel also filed tax returns which he knew underreported taxable income by over $20 million between 2016 and 2018.
Ermel’s fraud caused a loss to the United States of more than $8 million.
This case was investigated by the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General.
Tribune News Services contributed to this article.
Photo credit: new look casting/iStock
Thanks for reading CPA Practice Advisor!
Subscribe Already registered? Log In
Need more information? Read the FAQs
