Hartford tax preparer pleads guilty to federal tax charge
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — A Hartford tax preparer pleaded guilty Friday to a federal tax charge, according to police.
East Lyme woman pleads guilty to tax offenses, will pay over $300,000 in restitution
From around 2015 until 2024, Clyde Gibson, jr., 43, operated as a tax return preparer under the name Build Understand Destroys LLC and charged clients a fee for their preparation of tax returns.
Gibson allegedly prepared thousands of federal tax returns, many of which claimed false deductions. During the investigation, an undercover agent posing as a customer met with Gibson and provided a W-2 form. Gibson allegedly put fraudulent information on the Schedules C and D.
During the 2016 through 2022 tax years, Gibson prepared at least 135 tax returns containing fraudulent information, causing the IRS a loss of at least $125,197, according to documents read in court.
He pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent income tax returns and is facing a maximum sentence of three years. He was released on a $25,000 bond.
He has agreed to pay $125,197 in restitution.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Internal Docs Raise Questions About Trump IRS Pick Billy Long's ‘No-Show Jobs' And ‘Strange' Schedule Inside A Powerful Agency
It's not quite clear what is happening with former Missouri Congressman Billy Long and his associates at the federal Office of Personnel Management, where he has been a senior advisor to the director since March. And Long's internal OPM calendar, which was obtained and reviewed by TPM, doesn't exactly shed light on the situation. In fact, multiple former OPM employees who discussed the matter with us said Long's schedule — which shows him averaging less than three items per week over the past three months — only adds to the questions about his workload and whether he is complying with recordkeeping requirements. In a statement to TPM, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, who is the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee, suggested the calendar data from OPM indicates Long and some of his associates were taking advantage of the agency, which plays a crucial part in the federal bureaucracy. 'If you ask me, it sure looks like Congressman Long got himself and some pals no-show jobs with maxed-out federal salaries,' Wyden said, adding, 'Somebody who abuses taxpayer dollars like that shouldn't come within 100 miles of the IRS.' Long and an OPM spokesperson did not respond to detailed questions from TPM about his schedule and role at the agency. OPM, which essentially serves as the chief human resources office and personnel policy manager for the federal government, is not the most high profile agency, but it is an influential one. During the second Trump administration, it has played a particularly central role, working closely with the Department of Government Efficiency — the initiative spearheaded by Elon Musk — to slash the federal workforce. Even as his current job is raising eyebrows, Long is on his way to taking a more powerful post. On Tuesday, members of the Senate Finance Committee voted 14-13 along party lines to advance Long's nomination to become commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. That sets the stage for a Senate floor vote that could end in Long's confirmation. President Trump announced his intention to have Long lead the tax agency on Dec. 4, 2024. Long, who represented Missouri's Seventh Congressional District from 2011 until 2023, previously pushed to abolish the IRS and earned a reputation as a staunch Trump loyalist. As TPM has previously reported, Long was one of the members of Congress who promoted bogus conspiracy theories in texts with Trump's former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, during the president's fight to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. In the announcement about the nomination, which came before Trump took office for his second term, the president boasted of Long's past work as an auctioneer and described him as the 'consummate 'people person.'' Since then, Long has been installed at OPM as his nomination has worked its way through the Senate. In that time, various controversies have erupted around his nomination to lead the IRS. These include questions about Long's tax credentials, which seem to come from a Florida business that offers a three-day seminar, and about his past private-sector work promoting a non-existent tax credit as well as another credit that has been described as 'riddled with fraud.' And, in recent weeks, Long's stint at the OPM has added to those concerns. On May 23, shortly after Long appeared before the Senate Finance Committee, members provided him with additional written questions for the record. Wyden, who cited the internal OPM calendars, took the opportunity to ask Long about the work that he and three associates — Ben Elleson, Karen Meads, and Mark Czuchry — are doing at OPM. According to Wyden, Long's in-person answer about the role that he and his associates play at the agency left much to be desired. 'If Congressman Long and his associates had real jobs doing serious work at OPM they'd have proven it to us when we gave him the opportunity,' Wyden said. 'The best he could do when staff questioned him on this was to read aloud a printout of a random press release and garble a few brief answers about proofreading and retirement issues, and it wasn't believable at all.' In his written questions to Long, Wyden claimed that both Long and Elleson, who was previously deputy chief of staff and legislative director in Long's House office, were both earning $195,200, which is the maximum salary for a federal worker in Washington D.C. Wyden also referenced the calendars as he asked Long, 'How many hours per week do you work?' Long's response did not directly answer that question or several others that were asked by the senator about his specific accomplishments and schedule. Instead, Long offered a terse three sentence reply. 'As a Senior Advisor at OPM, I work with the Acting Administrator in modernizing and digitizing the federal government retirement system,' Long wrote. 'This includes identifying improvements and discussing options to better serve federal employees. I work at OPM in the Washington, D.C. headquarters.' TPM obtained and reviewed internal OPM calendars that were provided by a source involved in Long's confirmation. They show Long had a total of 34 items on his schedule during March, April, and May, a period that included thirteen weeks and 64 working days. The calendars did not detail the appointments on Long's schedule, but none appeared to last a full day. And many of the items on Long's calendar may not have been work at all. Eleven of them were identified as 'tentative,' rather than scheduled commitments, and one of the blocked off periods was explicitly listed as 'free.' Long's associates at the agency had similarly open schedules. The calendars show Elleson, whose title at OPM is reportedly 'senior adviser,' had 65 items scheduled, an average of slightly more than one thing per day for the three-month period. Of these, eight were listed as 'tentative' and three were identified as 'free.' According to Wyden's questions for the record, Meads, who spent a dozen years serving as the scheduler in Long's district office, is earning a salary of $175,000. Her OPM calendar shows just six items for all of March and April. Everything on Meads' schedule during that two month period was identified as either 'tentative' or 'free.' Meads' calendar for the month of May was completely empty. In his written responses to Wyden, Long defended the work of both of his associates while providing few details. 'Mr. Elleson is a trusted and respected employee with years of experience. He was brought on following normal hiring practices and procedures,' Long wrote, later adding, 'Ms. Meads is a seasoned employee with extensive government experience. She was brought on following normal hiring practices and procedures.' Elleson and Meads did not respond to requests for comment from TPM. A former senior OPM staffer who left the agency prior to Trump's second term and requested anonymity to avoid retaliation said the lack of activity on these calendars is unusual. 'I can't imagine a day that I had less than six or seven meetings when I was at OPM — or more — that were back to back. That's especially true for senior directors,' the former senior staffer said. The ex-staffer went on to point out that DOGE, the so-called government efficiency agency, has extensively focused on OPM and placed personnel inside the agency. One of the items highlighted by DOGE as part of efforts to eliminate 'waste, fraud, and abuse' is a decommissioned mine in Pennsylvania that OPM has used to warehouse retirement records. Because many of the retirement functions that Long has suggested he is focused on are based there rather than in D.C., the former staffer suggested his work should include an abundance of online meetings that would crop up on the calendar. 'As DOGE mocked or made clear, retirement services is based in a mine in Pennsylvania, so your work cannot be done in person,' the former staffer said. Obviously, it is possible that Long and his associates are simply not inputting all of their activity on the internal calendar system. However, the former senior staffer suggested this would raise other issues since federal recordkeeping requirements call for detailed tracking. Long's third associate at OPM, Mark Czuchry, brings up a whole host of other issues unrelated to workload and bookkeeping. Czuchry is a Minnesota lawyer and partner at the financial firm Lifetime Advisors, which employed Long after he left Congress in 2023. Czuchry, a member of his family, and other employees at Lifetime Advisors were among a group of donors who provided Long with an influx of campaign donations after Trump announced his nomination. Long used that cash to reimburse himself for a personal loan he had made to the failed Senate bid that led him to abandon his House seat. And, last month, the news outlet The Lever surfaced a recording where the CEO of a financial services company touted his relationship with Long and asserted that, if he was confirmed, Long planned to bring Czuchry on board at the IRS. In his written questions to Long, Wyden said Czuchry is also earning a $195,200 salary at OPM. Wyden also noted the fact 'Czuchry was one of many individuals who recently contributed to your Senate campaign fund.' Wyden went on to ask about Czuchry's role at OPM and whether Long wanted to have the attorney 'join' him at the IRS. 'Mr. Czuchry is not employed at OPM and does not plan on being employed by the IRS,' Long wrote in his response, which was submitted on Friday. However, OPM records obtained by the Project on Government Oversight last month described Czuchry as a 'senior advisor' at OPM. While Czuchry seems to have worked at the agency in the past, an OPM spokesperson told Bloomberg for a May 15 story that he had left. Czuchry also had an internal OPM calendar. Like the others belonging to Long and his associates, it was conspicuously empty. There were 27 items on Cuzchry's calendar in March and April of this year. Of those, ten were listed as 'tentative' and one was identified as 'free.' In May, Czuchry's calendar displayed six items, all of which were listed as either 'tentative' or 'free.' A second former OPM employee who left the agency earlier this year and declined to be named for fear of retaliation described Long and his associates' calendars as 'pristine' and said the absence of appointments on them was 'incredibly unusual and disturbing.' The employee had firsthand knowledge of the calendars and said they had raised concerns among others at the agency. 'To be a senior adviser and not be having meetings with various teams — particularly for these sweeping policy initiatives — is strange. They're trying to reimagine the federal workforce,' the employee said. 'They would be meeting with multiple teams. You would be seeing advising or fact finding scheduled throughout the day.' The employee also stressed that, due to its role providing oversight to other agencies, OPM is especially concerned with maintaining standards and procedures. Because of this, the person said, it was particularly problematic to 'have a pocket of four people who aren't contributing to personnel policy in any way but are taking salary.' They also echoed the concerns about recordkeeping and suggested the situation with Long and his associates is even more troubling given the Trump administration's supposed commitment to government efficiency. 'What are these people adding? Why are the American taxpayers paying for him and these three people? What are the taxpayers getting for this time that they have purchased? It doesn't look like anything and that's incredibly disturbing,' the former employee said, adding, 'Talk about 'waste, fraud, and abuse.' What is going on at the government personnel agency? … We always talk about the tone being set, so if this is happening at the personnel agency, what else is happening?'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
A community rallies for the release of a beloved high schooler detained by ICE
Calls to 'Free Marcelo' are echoing beyond the high school campus of a Massachusetts town where a standout student was arrested by ICE over the weekend. A vocal contingent of students at the high school in Milford – many wearing white in a show of solidarity – staged a walkout on their campus Monday supporting classmate Marcelo Gomes da Silva, an 18-year-old junior who's now in immigration detention. The governor and a US senator have called for his release. And the school volleyball team – which has a home playoff game Tuesday night – is dedicating the match to him. 'He is a student who was learning every other subject like every other student who is excited about his future,' one classmate told affiliate WCVB on Monday. Gomes da Silva's detention is the latest example of the Trump administration widening its sights beyond violent criminals and gang members without legal status, and another likely case of a collateral arrest in which someone who is not the target of an investigation is swept up by immigration authorities. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Gomes da Silva on Saturday while the honors student was on his way to volleyball practice with two teammates, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said. Agents stopped the car and spoke with all three students. 'By the time I had turned back around, and I was done talking to (the) ICE agent, he was already in handcuffs and being put into the back of the car, which was devastating,' Yago Sampaio, 17, told WCVB. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the traffic stop that resulted in Gomes da Silva's detention, saying in a statement the target of the 'immigration enforcement operation' was the student's father. The statement said his father is in the country illegally and local authorities told ICE he'd been driving recklessly. 'Upon conducting the vehicle stop, officers arrested Marcelo (Gomes da Silva), an illegally present, 18-year-old Brazilian alien and the son of the intended target,' the statement said. 'While ICE officers never intended to apprehend (Gomes da Silva), he was found to be in the United States illegally and subject to removal proceedings, so officers made the arrest,' wrote Tricia McLaughlin, the department's assistant secretary for public affairs. Attorney Robin Nice, who is representing the high school student, insists her client has no criminal history and entered the country lawfully in 2013 using a B-2 visa, which allows foreign nationals to visit the United States for tourism or visiting family and friends. Gomes da Silva eventually received a student visa which has since lapsed, Nice said, though it's unclear when it expired; Nice told CNN she expects him to be eligible for asylum and he intends to apply. 'His strong community ties, consistent academic achievement, and involvement in positive extracurricular and faith-based activities underscore the fact that he poses no danger to the community and is not a flight risk,' Nice wrote in a statement to CNN. 'The actions by ICE do not make the community safer, they just sow fear among … immigrants and their loved ones.' Gomes da Silva remained in immigration detention Tuesday, according to ICE records. A federal judge issued an order Monday saying the young man must remain in Massachusetts for at least 72 hours, starting Sunday afternoon, to 'provide the judge who would be randomly assigned the action a fair opportunity to review the merits' of the case. Gomes da Silva is scheduled for an initial hearing before an immigration judge in Massachusetts on Thursday, his attorneys say, at which time he plans to request to be released on bond. Those who know him describe Gomes da Silva as active in his church and community. 'I think because of Marcelo and how he acted towards people, is why so many people came out here today to help support Marcelo,' a Milford High school student said in an interview with WCVB at Monday's student walkout. Healey, the governor, demanded answers from ICE following Gomes da Silva's arrest. 'ICE has had plenty of opportunity to examine whether or not they made a mistake,' Healey said in a video posted to her official X account. 'Unless ICE has additional information that would substantiate that this individual had some criminal involvement, he should be released.' The community launched a fundraiser to help with Gomes da Silva's legal and court expenses and to help support his family. As of Tuesday evening, it had raised nearly $40,000. Ahead of its Tuesday night home playoff game, the Milford High School boys volleyball team dedicated the match to their detained team member and wrote in an Instagram post, 'We will continue to pray and fight for our brother.' 'THIS IS FOR YOU MARCELO,' the team wrote in capital letters. 'PACK THE STANDS, NO EMPTY SEATS. WEAR WHITE. WE LOVE YOU MARCELO.' 'Marcelo should have been playing the drums at Milford High's graduation on Sunday, not trapped in a detention center,' said Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, in a video posted on X. 'This isn't about public safety,' Markey added. 'This about cruelty, and power, and fear engendered by the Trump administration. To the Milford community, I'm with you as we tell the Trump administration to keep its hands off your kids. And I am with you in calling on ICE to free Marcelo.' CNN's Caroll Alvarado contributed to this report.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Police warning Connecticut residents of scam text message claiming to be DMV
NORTH HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — North Haven police and state police are warning Connecticut residents of a scam text message claiming to be from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). New scam circulating Connecticut targets E-Zpass users They say that clicking on the link provided in the message leads to a fraudulent website where personal and financial information is susceptible to theft. Police emphasized that state DMV's would not ask for information or money via text message. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
