Press Release
United States Attorney James R. Dedrick
Eastern District of Tennessee
CONTACT: SHARRY DEDMAN-BEARD
PHONE: 865-545-4167
FAX: 865-545-4176
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 17, 2006
KNOXVILLE WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO TAX EVASION
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE—Sarah Ann Staup, 58, of Knoxville, Tennessee was sentenced today by the Honorable Thomas A. Varlan, United States District Judge, to serve twelve (12) months and one (1) day in prison, and to pay a $10,000 fine, followed by 2 years of supervised release. This sentence followed Staup's guilty plea to income tax evasion charges on March 30, 2006.
On March 17, 2006, United States Attorney James R. Dedrick filed an Information in the United States District Court charging Staup with four counts of income tax evasion.
According to court documents, Staup admitted that from 1999 through 2002, while serving as the chief executive officer of Hensley Direct Inc., she prepared and signed 10 checks drawn on the Hensley checking account made payable to her husband or herself. After preparing and signing each check, she deposited each check into her personal bank account and used the proceeds from each check, which constituted diverted Hensley revenue, for her personal benefit. To conceal that this Hensley revenue had been diverted from the Hensley corporate checking account for her personal benefit, Staup willfully misclassified the 10 checks as payments for postage fees in Hensley’s manually and electronically maintained accounting records. Staup willfully did not identify as income the proceeds from the above-referenced 10 Hensley checks on her Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns for calendar years 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. Staup admitted that through her conduct she evaded $101,203 in income tax owed to the United States collectively for calendar years 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002.
This investigation was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney F. M. (Trey) Hamilton III rerpesented the government. For further information, contact Acting U.S. Attorney James R. Dedrick, Assistant U.S. Attorney F. M. Hamilton III, or Public Information Officer Sharry Dedman-Beard, at 865-545-4167.