A New Orleans entrepreneur, who owns a vacation rental business, has been sentenced for filing false tax statements, as announced by U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans. The sentencing took place on September 26, after the businesswoman was found to have reported inaccurate income from 2017 to 2019, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Angela Shelton, 58, operated "Big Easy Accommodations, LLC" and was found to have underreported her income by approximately $879,020 during a three-year period. The underreporting was substantial enough to cause a reported loss of nearly $300,000 to the Internal Revenue Service. This was confirmed in court documents and the U.S. Attorney's Office statement.
The financial discrepancy was no small matter, resulting in a sentencing of Shelton to four months of probation by Chief United States District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown. In addition to probation, Shelton has been strictly directed to pay restitution amounting to the loss incurred by the IRS, $294,690.00. Further to the restitution, a mandatory special assessment fee of $100 was also imposed by the Judge, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The completion of this case was assisted by the IRS Criminal Investigations team, a point not overlooked by the U.S. Attorney's Office in their statement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Carboni, presiding from the Financial Crimes Unit, is to also be acknowledged for her role in the prosecution of the case.
