United States Attorney Office
Press Release
FLORIDA LAWYER PLEADS GUILTY TO TAX CHARGES
January 5, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Luis O. Rivera, Action Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, announced that Florida attorney Louis Richard Montello pled guilty on January 4, 2007 to three counts of failure to file his income taxes. Sentencing has been scheduled for March 20, 2007 before U.S. District Court Judge Patrician Seitz.
Montello, 48, was charged on November 17, 2006 with three counts of failing to file his income tax returns. Montello received his law degree from the University of Miami in 1986, and worked at various prominent law firms.
During 1999, 2000 and 2001, Montello was required to file income tax returns on earnings of approximately $907,000 during the three-year period. His primary source of income was his salary paid from his law firm and a capital gain he made from the sale of an interest in a limited liability company and real estate. During the investigation and prosecution, Montello admitted that he had not filed the returns because one of his largest assets, a home in the exclusive Golden Beach area, needed to be sold in order to satisfy his tax liability.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Wilfredo Fernandez.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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