HOUSTON – The owner of Montalvo Tax Service has been ordered to federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
Jean Montalvo pleaded guilty June 30 to one count of making and subscribing a false return.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner varied upward and ordered Montalvo to serve 36 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by one year of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard how she suffered from numerous medical conditions and was sorry for her actions. However, Judge Hittner imposed the longer sentence due to her criminal history and the loss amount in the case. The court also ordered the defendant to pay $508,350 in restitution.
As part of her plea, Montalvo admitted she began filing tax returns under her business in Angleton in 2010. She charged a fixed fee and would either collect her from her clients’ income return or from a direct payment.
From 2014 through 2016, Montalvo willfully failed to report a portion of the amount she received for customer fees. As a result of her scheme, the IRS suffered a loss of $197,136.
She also filed approximately 58 federal income tax returns for the calendar years 2014 through 2017 which contained false and fraudulent items. Some of those included charitable contributions, qualified fuel property, business meals, business mileage and entertainment expenses. Based on these false and fraudulent filings, there was an additional tax harm of $311,214.
Montalvo was taken into custody after the sentencing where she will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rodolfo Ramirez and James Hu are prosecuting the case.
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