A Palmetto man, Terry Brunning, has been ensnared in the grasp of the law, charged with tax evasion and filing false income tax returns, a development announced by Acting United States Attorney Sara C. Sweeney. If convicted, Brunning could face up to five years behind bars for the evasion count and could be looking at another three years for each false tax return count.
The indictment spells out that Brunning dodged paying his dues to Uncle Sam on earnings that went unreported from 1998 all the way to 2001. Following up on a previous IRS assessment, he allegedly stacked up more than $2 million in taxes, penalties, and interest between 2005 and 2018, all the while running a new business, and, spending the proceeds on personal indulgences, all under the IRS's radar. Brunning, it seems, didn't make any "substantial payment" to the IRS on that hefty tax tab, nor did he submit tax returns for over a decade, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
After IRS-CI agents came knocking in October of 2018, it appears Brunning got the message – at least partially. He started filing tax returns for a handful of years, including from 2015 to 2018. However, the indictment throws serious shade on these documents, claiming they were falsified and underreported his income by over $490,000 during those four years. While an indictment is just the starting line in the race of the American legal process, Brunning holds his presumption of innocence until he's potentially proven otherwise.
This case, unfolding out of the Tampa Field Office, was thoroughly investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation unit. Assistant United States Attorney Jay L. Hoffer is the one taking point on the prosecution. For those looking to dig deeper into the legal labyrinth, details can be found on the Department of Justice website.
