Two Philadelphia legal professionals who pleaded guilty to tax evasion have been sentenced to terms of probation, to federal prosecutors’ dismay. Edward Millstein and Susan Halpern, who are married, pleaded guilty to 3 counts of tax fraud in November. U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania sentenced Millstein to six months’ house arrest and five years’ probation, while sentencing Halpern to five years’ probation and a $5,000 excellent. Prosecutors alleged that the money that was supposed to go to their six-parent tax debt was instead hidden and used to splurge on luxuries.
“We are dissatisfied with the sentences that have been passed down,” U.S. Attorney William McSwain stated in a declaration. “These are severe crimes that sincerely benefit prison time, and the courtroom’s choice nowadays sends the wrong message to the public.” Millstein’s lawyer, William Brennan, stated he and his purchaser were appreciative of the courtroom’s sentencing.
“We’re delighted with the sentence,” Brennan said. “It gives Mr. Millstein the possibility to keep his employment and thereby hold to have the capacity to satisfy his responsibility to the government. I assume the court docket realized there are loads more to Ted Millstein than this one unlucky crooked case.” Halpern’s legal professional, Jeffrey Miller of Nasuti & Miller, did no longer at once respond to a request for comment.
The government alleged Millstein and Halpern owed $444,225 in taxes for the calendar years 2007 through 2011. When the IRS attempted to collect, Millstein hid money in his kids’ financial institution accounts to avoid levies. Prosecutors additionally claim that Millstein lied about acquiring a loan to pay the debt and didn’t inform investigators about a financial institution account he used to deposit the $300,000 salary paid by his firm each year from 2013 to 2015.
Halpern then spent tens of heaps of greenbacks on clothing, cosmetics, jewelry, salons, private golf equipment, and trips overseas, even as she simultaneously failed to pay any of her and her husband’s tax debt for 2010 and 2011, prosecutors stated. In November, McSwain chastised the defendants’ behavior, announcing he expected better from lawyers.
“These defendants intentionally didn’t pay taxes, as a choice to cover their cash and spend it on luxuries that they could not find the money for,” McSwain stated in a November assertion. “The defendants are both attorneys—they realize higher. Instead of being law-abiding residents, they chose to cheat the system deliberately and bankroll their lavish lifestyle. This workplace will maintain to keep tax cheats liable for their crimes.” Millstein ought to have faced a maximum sentence of five years in jail, three years of supervised release, and a $ 000 fine, while Halpern was vulnerable to the maximum sentence of two years in prison, 365 days of directed release, and a $ 100 hundred
