NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A Louisiana criminal defense attorney has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for failing to pay approximately $1 million in income and employment taxes, including interest and penalties.
The Justice Department said in a statement that 66-year-old Michael Thiel, of Baton Rouge, used trusts to conceal his income and assets and evade his tax obligations over a decade-long period that started in 2003.
Prosecutors said Thiel used a phony lease agreement to conceal his purchase and ownership of a home for $435,000.
Thiel pleaded guilty in December to tax evasion. A judge handed down his prison sentence Wednesday and ordered him to pay nearly $1 million in restitution to the IRS.
Thiel had a law practice based in Hammond.
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