HARRISON — A Gassville man who worked as a podiatrist in Mountain Home was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison and was ordered to pay about $300,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
Clifford B. Marston, 57, was sentenced by Judge Jimm Larry Hendren in U.S. District Court, Western District of Arkansas in Harrison, after being convicted in May of tax evasion and filing false income tax returns.
Hendren sentenced Marston, who owns Sunshine Foot Clinic Inc. in Mountain Home and Harrison, to 26 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Marston also must pay $296,477.35 in restitution to the goverenment and pay a $5,000 fine, according to a news release from the IRS.
In June 2005, Marston was named in a 25-count indictment charging him with income tax evasion, filing false income tax returns and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false individual income tax returns to the IRS.
After a five-day jury trial in May, a jury found Marston guilty on all 25 counts.
Marston could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
During the trial, the prosecution proved Marston illegally stopped withholding employment taxes from his employees' salaries in 1999, and was filing false employment tax returns with the IRS from 1999 to 2001, claiming no federal wages were paid to employees, according to the news release. After 2001, Marston stopped filing employment tax returns and personal income tax returns.
Marston also was convicted of income tax evasion for personal tax returns from 1998-2000.
Last year, Marston told The Baxter Bulletin that his actions were based on his conscience and personal convictions. After researching the tax code, he felt the IRS had misapplied regulations and that most Americans do not have taxable income, he said.
Marston was represented by Joe Izen Jr. of Bellaire, Texas, and Christopher Plumlee and Matt Fleming from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Fort Smith prosecuted the case.
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