Huntsville Man to Pay $3.7M in Restitution

A federal judge made it clear on Thursday that tax evasion will not be tolerated when he ordered a Huntsville man to pay $3.7 million in restitution as part of his sentence. Paul Bracy, 71, was charged with one count of tax evasion and was sentenced to five years’ probation, including 8 months home detention.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office news release, the IRS was about to determine Bracy was responsible for $60,995 in unpaid taxes related to a business he owned, when Bracy revealed four pieces of real property, via “sham transactions,” to others in order to avoid IRS seizure of the properties. As part of his plea agreement, Bracy agreed to pay $3,747,650 in restitution.

“Most citizens diligently pay their taxes,” U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance said in a statement. “The willful failure of others to do so is patently unfair and criminal. We will aggressively seek to investigate and prosecute those individuals.”

“The sentence today should reassure Americans that those individuals who willfully and intentionally violate their known legal duty of filing and paying their fair share of taxes will be prosecuted,” Special Agent in Charge with IRS Criminal Investigation Veronica Hyman-Pillot said.