Boyd Lynn Butcher, a 51-year-old resident of Marshall, has been sentenced for a federal income tax violation in the Eastern District of Texas, as announced by U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs.
Butcher pleaded guilty to aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns and has been sentenced to 36 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap on February 27, 2024. Additionally, Butcher has been ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $317,252.00.
Court proceedings revealed that between 2015 and 2017, Butcher operated a tax preparer service under the name Boyd’s Tax Service. During this time, he prepared over 450 federal tax returns for third parties, despite not being authorized by the IRS to do so. Many of these returns contained false or fraudulent information aimed at generating unwarranted tax refunds. The IRS determined that Butcher caused a tax harm of over $317,252.00 during this period.
An example provided in court showed that Butcher prepared a 2015 tax return using tax software intended for self-prepared returns, falsely claiming deductions related to a farming business for a taxpayer who did not have such a business.
U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs condemned Butcher's actions, stating that they not only betrayed the trust of his clients but also undermined the integrity of the tax and government systems, effectively stealing from the American people. Diggs praised the efforts of the Internal Revenue Service in pursuing justice and fairness.
Christopher J. Altemus Jr., special agent in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, emphasized that Butcher's actions amounted to theft from the Federal Government. In addition to the prison sentence, Butcher must pay restitution exceeding $300,000 for the harm inflicted on his 16 victims.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Farahnak.
