Industry News

Susan Patrick Gets 15 Months for Filing False Tax Returns

Former Patrick Communications and Legend Communications co-owner Susan Patrick has been sentenced to 15 months in prison plus one year of supervised release and must pay $3.8 million in restitution to the U.S. Treasury after being convicted of filing a false tax return. The Justice Department says, “Despite receiving the completed and accurate tax returns from the accounting firm, Patrick did notim file them with the IRS. After the IRS contacted Patrick and requested that she file the unfiled returns, Patrick lied to the IRS, claiming that her accounting firm had timely filed the returns and that she would provide copies of those returns. Patrick, however, did not provide copies of the accurate returns that had been prepared by her accounting firm. Instead, Patrick doctored the business returns, removing $10 million in gross receipts received by her brokerage firm, and altered the personal returns by removing over $9.5 million in related income that she and her husband had earned from 2012 through 2014. Patrick also falsely backdated her signature on each tax return to make it appear as if the returns had been timely signed and mailed these false documents to the IRS, hoping to evade paying the full amount of taxes she owed. In addition, Patrick did not timely file business and individual returns for 2015, which she had also hired the accounting firm to prepare, nor did she pay the tax due and owing for the individual return. In total, Patrick sought to evade more than $2.5 million in taxes.”

Industry News

Prosecutors Seek Prison for Susan Patrick in Tax Fraud Case

According to Cowboy State Daily, federal prosecutors are seeking two years in prison for Susan Patrick, co-owner of Wyoming-based media brokerage Patrick Communications and broadcasting company Legend Communications. Patrick pleaded guilty to hiding $10 million in business revenue and $9.5im million in personal income from the IRS. She has agreed to pay $2.5 million in restitution, plus interest, but is asking for probation or home confinement instead of prison, citing “ongoing health concerns.” But prosecutors say the government needs to send a message of deterrence consistent with the “median length of imprisonment for crimes like the one she committed,” which is 21 months. In pleading guilty, Susan Patrick said her husband and business partner Larry Patrick, and other business partners, were not aware of her actions. Read the Cowboy State Story here.

Industry News

Wyoming Station Owner Susan Patrick Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud

According to a report in Cowboy State Daily, Susan Patrick is pleading guilty to defrauding the IRS.im Patrick – co-owner of Patrick Communications and Legend Communications with husband Larry Patrick – admits to hiding $10 million in business revenue and $9.5 million in personal income. The companies own stations in Cody, Worland, Sheridan, Buffalo and Gillette under the Big Horn brand of networks. The report indicates that Patrick could get up to three years in prison and be fined up to $250,000 when she’s sentenced on December 19. Read the full story here.