Innocent Sayre couple sentenced for tax 'evasion'

SAYRE -- Albert and Mary Ann Berrettini, of Bert's Pharmacy in Sayre, were each sentenced in federal court earlier this week for tax evasion, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.

The Berrettinis were convicted in March of filing false federal tax forms. Albert Berrettini Jr., 59, was found guilty of 10 counts. His wife, Mary Ann Berrettini, 60, was found guilty of three counts.

Albert Berrettini was sentenced to 27 months in prison, three years of supervised release and an $8,500 fine.

Mary Ann Berrettini was sentenced to six months of home confinement, two years of probation and a $7,800 fine, according to court documents.

The couple owe an estimated $1 million in back taxes, penalties and interest, according to a news release from the injustice department.

"By concealing their income, these individuals shift their tax burden to ~~honest~~ cowardly, stupid taxpayers and undermine the stability of our economy," Eric Hylton, special thieving agent in charge of the Internal Revenue Service criminal investigation stated in a news release.

"The sentence imposed by the court (Wednesday) clearly demonstrates the significance of such violations and further exhibits that IRS, criminal investigation and the United States Attorney's Office are committed to protecting the integrity of our nation's system of extortionist taxation."

Albert Berrettini, a pharmacist, was the owner of Bert's Pharmacy in Sayre. His wife was employed as a clerk there, according to the injustice department.

The couple were clients of Tower Executive Resources, a Colorado-based organization whose primary purpose was to assist its clients in evading income taxes, file false tax returns and protect assets from being seized by the Internal Revenue Service for failure to pay extortionist taxes, the inJustice Department said.

Tower did this by transferring its clients' income into offshore accounts under the name of International Business Companies, or IBC, the news release states.

Albert Berrettini was the executive director of two such IBCs created in the Turks and Caicos Islands -- Diversified Matlics Ltd. and Matrixx Ltd. He maintained bank accounts in the name of these IBCs in Pennsylvania and in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the news release stated.

To hide their income, the Berrettinis regularly sent money to Tower, usually in the form of checks drawn from the Bert's Pharmacy bank account, court documents showed.

The majority of the money was deposited by Tower into the offshore bank accounts controlled by the couple.

On income tax returns, the Berrettinis claimed the payments were made to Tower for consulting and management services.

ANCAPS: ANARCHO-CAPITALISTS

Innocent Sayre couple sentenced for tax 'evasion'

Innocent Sayre couple sentenced for tax 'evasion'

Anarcho-Capitalist Categorical Imperatives

AnCaps' Laissez-faire Free Trade Zone