June 28, 2004
For Immediate Release
P R E S S R E L E A S E
Alphonso Palmer, age 37, was sentenced on June 24, 2004, by United States District Judge Helen Gillmor to 15 months imprisonment for filing a false federal income return for the calendar year 1996. Palmer, a resident of Western Samoa, was a resident of the State of Hawaii when he filed the return in 1997.
Edward H. Kubo, Jr., United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii, said that according to information produced to the court, Palmer filed a IRS Form 1040, Personal Income Tax Return, reporting taxable income of approximately $16,976 for 1996 when in fact his true income was approximately $470,536. According to other information produced in court, Palmer owed more than $47,000 to the United States in unpaid taxes and also owed State of Hawaii income taxes and excise tax in an amount of almost $42,000 at the time of sentencing. In return for his plea of guilty, a second count charging a false return for the 1997 calendar year was dismissed.
The case resulted from an investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue
Service - Criminal Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Assistant
United States Attorney Leslie E. Osborne, Jr.
# # #