Copley man sentenced to prison for tax violations

A Copley man was sentenced to more than two years in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States and related crimes, said Acting U.S. Attorney Carole Rendon, and Kathy Enstrom, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations.

Lawrence Tipton, 48, was sentenced to 25 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $500,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

Ebony Brown, 41, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, was sentenced to more than four years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $440,000 in restitution.

12-count federal indictment was unsealed today charging Lawrence E. Tipton, 48, Angela G. Tipton, 46, both of Copley, and Ebony Brown, 41, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, with conspiracy to defraud the United States of America, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

Lawrence and Angela Tipton, 46, also of Copley, conspired to evade the payment of assessed taxes between 2003 and 2014. Their conduct involved failing to report income, creating various business entities to hide their income and assets from the Internal Revenue Service, according to the indictment.

Brown conspired to distribute cocaine she acquired in Texas and Florida and sold in Ohio, according to court documents.

Angela Tipton was sentenced to four months of home confinement and ordered to pay more than $500,000 in restitution.

The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert E. Bulford and Samuel A. Yannucci.