O'Fallon Man Sentenced for Tax Evasion

St. Louis, MO--The United States Attorney’s Office announced today that John Freeborn was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay $227,487 restitution for tax evasion.

According to a news release from the United States Attorney's Office, court documents show that for tax years 2004 through 2007, Freeborn attempted to hide his income to evade paying approximately $227,487 of federal income tax.  Beginning in 2004 Freeborn had his employer, Modern Auto Recycling Techniques (MART), file false Form W-4's claiming he was exempt from the federal tax withholding requirements. 

In September of 2005 MART advised Freeborn that they were going to begin withholding federal income tax from his paycheck regardless of the withholding status claimed on Forms W-4.  In October 2005, he resigned his position as a W-2 wage earner to become an independent contractor with MART.  Freeborn admitted that the purpose of becoming an independent contractor was to cause MART to file Form 1099's on Freeborn’s behalf to look like they had not withheld federal income taxes. 

Also during this time, Freeborn caused substantial amounts of money received to be converted into cash.  The purpose of the use of cash made it more difficult to trace the income received during the tax year 2007.  The cash transactions which occurred between August and November 2007, total approximately $356,200.

"Today's sentencing of Mr. Freeborn again emphasizes the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Attorney’s office will continue their aggressive pursuit of those who use fraudulent methods in an attempt to corrupt our Nation's tax system." said C Steve Howard, Acting Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigation for the St. Louis Field Office in a news release.  "Honest taxpayers have been reassured today that no one is above the law especially when the integrity of tax administration is at stake."

Freeborn, 56, O’Fallon, MO, pled guilty last December to one felony count of tax evasion, and appeared today for sentencing before United States District Judge Catherine D. Perry.

This case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. First Assistant United States Attorney Michael W. Reap handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

 Information provided by the United States Attorney's Office.