By Lexi Cortes
Belleville News-Democrat
(TNS)
A federal judge sentenced a Belleville, IL, tax preparer to three years in prison and ordered her to pay more than $700,000 in restitution after she admitted to filing false tax returns for years.
Dormeshia A. Haire, 38, pleaded guilty in April to one count of making false statements on a tax return, one count of wire fraud and three counts of aiding and abetting the submission of false and fraudulent returns.
Chief U.S. District Judge Staci M. Yandle of the Southern District of Illinois sentenced Haire on Aug. 26 at the federal courthouse in Benton.
Haire’s attorney, Robert Fedor, did not immediately respond to an email and phone call seeking comment.
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According to a list of agreed-upon facts, Haire devised a scheme to defraud the government by falsifying her personal income and her clients’ business expenses for tax years 2019 through 2024:
- She reported lower gross income for herself so that she would not have to pay the full amount of taxes owed to the government.
- For some of her clients, she inflated business losses and reported they had businesses they did not own so they would receive larger tax refunds and she would receive a higher commission.
The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of Illinois said in a news release that Haire continued filing false tax returns under other individuals’ names after she was indicted and released on bond awaiting trial.
“Dormeshia Haire filed hundreds of false tax returns, kept filing them after she was charged, and hid the scheme under other people’s names,” U.S. Attorney Steven Weinhoeft said in the release. “That conduct demands prison time and full restitution for the losses she caused.”
Investigators determined the government lost at least $654,819 from Haire’s income taxes and her clients’ refunds.
Yandle ordered Haire to pay $716,406 in restitution to the IRS and the Illinois Department of Revenue. Haire agreed to pay interest on the restitution, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Haire operated her tax preparation businesses from an office at 56 S. 65th St. in Belleville. Her businesses were called Dormeshia Taxes, Dormeshia Haire Taxes, Dormeshia Haire Tax Services and One Tax Guru Financial Services Inc.
Photo credit: Freepix
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© 2026 the Belleville News-Democrat (Belleville, Ill.). Visit www.bnd.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
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