Connecticut Fisherman Sentenced In $300,000-Plus Tax Fraud Case

DURHAM, CT — A Connecticut man Thursday was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for evading taxes on income he earned from commercial fishing in Massachusetts, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to case records, Brian Kobus, of Durham, worked as a commercial fisherman and deckhand for various fishing companies in Massachusetts. After each fishing trip, the companies paid Kobus by check and, despite receiving more than $1.2 million in fishing income between 2011 and 2013, and 2017 through 2021, Kobus never filed a federal income tax return or paid the taxes that he owed, according t0 case records.

To conceal the source and "disposition" of his income from the IRS, Kobus regularly "cashed his paychecks from the fishing companies and used the cash to fund his personal lifestyle," prosecutors said.

In total, Kobus "caused a tax loss to the IRS" of $377,839.90, prosecutors said.

In addition to his prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton for the District of Massachusetts ordered Kobus to serve one year of supervised release and to pay the $377,839.90 in restitution.