Frankfort Man Sentenced To 1 Year In Prison For Underreporting Taxes

FRANKFORT, IL — A Frankfort resident, and owner of three Chicago-area childcare and transportation businesses has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for underreporting $1.47 million on his income tax returns, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois.

Jeremiah Johnson, 46, owned New Beginnings Academy, New Beginnings Child Development, and Epic Transportation. From 2015 to 2020, Johnson obtained more than $1.47 million of income from the operation of those businesses but failed to report the money on his individual tax returns, according to a release.

Johnson filed individual tax returns for those years but reported lesser W-2 wages and some rental income, a release states. The failure to disclose the additional income he received from his businesses resulted in the preparation and filing of materially false individual income tax returns.

During the same time period, Johnson also failed to file corporate tax returns or pay any of the required employer and employee withholdings for federal income tax, Social Security tax, and Medicare, the Attorney's Office said.

Johnson pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal charge of filing a false tax return. In addition to the year-and-a-day prison term, U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly on Wednesday fined Johnson $10,000 and ordered him to pay $123,391 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.