June 22, 2009

Judge Orders Defendant to Pay More Than $514,000 In Restitution and Serve Ten Months In Federal Prison For Bankruptcy Fraud and Tax Evasion

United States Attorney Karen P. Hewitt announced that Stevan Charles Pedroarena was sentenced today in federal court in San Diego by the Honorable Jeffrey T. Miller, United States District Court Judge, to serve 10 months in custody, followed by four months in a Residential Re-entry Center, followed by three years of supervised release following his release from prison for charges arising out of bankruptcy fraud in 1999 and tax evasion for years 2000 through 2002. In addition, Judge Miller ordered that Pedroarena pay over $514,000 in restitution. Pedroarena pled guilty to a two-count Superseding Information - one count of bankruptcy fraud and one count of tax evasion on May 6, 2008.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher P. Tenorio, who handled the prosecution with Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Orabona, Pedroarena admitted that he fraudulently failed to report on his 1999 bankruptcy petition that he had filed his state and federal tax returns prior to declaring bankruptcy and expected a refund of over $8,000.

Additionally, Pedroarena admitted that he failed to declare $772,500.00 of his taxable income for the 2000 tax year. According to Tenorio, Pedroarena further admitted as part of the plea agreement that he owed a total of $183,181.00 in outstanding taxes for tax years 2000 through 2002. Pedroarena agreed to pay the outstanding tax, as well as applicable penalties and interest, to the IRS as a condition of the plea agreement.

DEFENDANT Case Number: 05CR0436-JM
Stevan Charles Pedroarena

SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Count 1 Title 18, United States Code, Section 152(3) (Bankruptcy Fraud) Count 2 Title 26, United States Code, Section 7201 (Tax Evasion)

AGENCIES
Federal Bureau of Investigation Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation

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For more information on federal criminal defense law, contact the Law Offices of Joseph Shemaria of Los Angeles, California.