Tax preparer arrested in Belize last year sentenced in nearly $2M scheme

A Hillsborough County tax preparer has been sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty in October to helping create “well over” a thousand false and fraudulent income tax returns that cost the IRS nearly $2 million.

Thomas Johnson, whose age was not disclosed, will also have to pay $1.68 million in retribution and serve one year of supervised probation when he is released.

Johnson was arrested in Belize last year and originally faced 14 counts, each with a maximum sentence of three years in prison. In October he pleaded guilty to the single count.