OWNER OF CHEEKS GENTLEMEN=S CLUB TO PAY MORE THAN $900 THOUSAND IN RESTITUTION FOR TAX CRIMES
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DAYTON - Elbert "Lee" Hale, 68, of Washington Township was ordered to immediately pay $961,271, plus penalties and interest, in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service for filing false corporate income tax returns for his business, Cheeks Gentlemen’s Club, 906 Watertower Lane in West Carrollton. Hale was also sentenced to serve five years probation including 18 months on home confinement.
Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio and Jose Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office, announced the sentence handed down today by Chief U.S. District Judge Susan J. Dlott.
Hale was convicted following a week-long trial in March, 2009 of three counts of filing false corporate income tax returns on behalf of his business from 2002 - 2004.
Hale's ex-wife and long time book keeper, Joyce A. Hale, 64, of Dayton, was convicted of one count of making false statements to federal investigators and was sentenced today to serve three years on probation, with two months on home confinement. She was also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and complete 100 hours of community service.
Lee Hale has owned and operated "Cheeks Gentlemen's Club" since 1998. Evidence presented at trial showed that Hale intentionally understated the club's business income on corporate income tax returns for the period spanning 2002 through 2004.
Federal investigators testified at trial that they seized a secret set of accounting books from the trunk of Joyce Hale's car while executing search warrants at the Club on May 12, 2006. Prior to seizing these records, Mrs. Hale denied to Federal agents having any knowledge of the existence of such books. This second set of books, which were penned in Mrs. Hale's own handwriting documented an under-reporting of business income of more than $3.1 million over a three-year period.
Judge Dlott also ordered Lee Hale to complete 500 hours of community service within three years and to pay a fine of $99,000.
Stewart commended the investigative efforts of special agents assigned to the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, and Assistant U. S. Attorneys Dwight Keller and Brent Tabacchi, who prosecuted the case.
