Former Contractor Convicted of Tax Evasion

A former San Antonio and Blanco contractor was in hot water Friday after being convicted of five counts of tax evasion while working on defense contract jobs.

Daniel Isaiah Thody, 45, believes that he has been unjustly accused and that he was not required to pay taxes on the $1 million profit he made from $1.5 million in government contracts for providing small parts for aircraft. In fact, Thody contends that money had no value and suggests that the government’s definitions in the tax code, such as “source of income” are too complex to be understood.

“A source of income is not income,” argued Thody, who represented himself. “If you get a hamburger from McDonald’s and if they ask you, ‘Where did the hamburger come from?’ McDonald’s is the source. But is McDonald’s a hamburger? No.”

While some would argue that Thody’s argument may just be the most ground breaking argument put forward against paying taxes, the IRS isn’t buying it and accused Thody of not filing tax returns from the 117 military contracts he received from 2005 to 2010.

In closing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Roomberg said that Thody put the company in the name of his father, a convicted and imprisoned bank robber, and used Thody’s daughter’s bank account to deposit the earnings from the contract – all in an attempt to conceal his income from the IRS. Thody faces up to five years for each count and can expect an extended stay in prison next to his father.