RALEIGH – A Cumberland County man was sentenced to an active prison term Monday on felony tax charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

Robert Lester McAllister, 33, of Fayetteville entered guilty pleas on Jan. 31, 2005 to three counts of aiding or assisting in the preparation of fraudulent North Carolina tax returns.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Abe Jones sentenced McAllister to three, consecutive 10-month minimum, 12-month maximum prison terms with the North Carolina Department of Corrections. Judge Jones suspended the last sentence for 24 months and ordered that McAllister be placed on supervised probation after completing the active sentences.

The state’s evidence showed that McAllister provided fraudulent wage and tax statements to others who used them to prepare false North Carolina individual income tax returns. The W-2’s were intended to deceive the state into issuing tax refunds to these individuals that they were not lawfully entitled to receive.

The charges against McAllister resulted from an investigation by a special agent with the North Carolina Department of Revenue’s Criminal Investigations Division. McAllister’s plea is the culmination of the state’s investigation into activities by several Fayetteville area residents involved with filing fraudulent state income tax returns using fictitious wage and tax statements. Twenty-one individuals were convicted in 2004 due to their roles in this scheme.

Last modified on: 10/31/07 03:43:56 PM .