Charlestown Man Gets Prison Time for Tax Evasion at Suffolk Downs

A Charlestown man was sentenced to a year in prison and more than $43,000 in fines after he was found guilty in federal court of helping gamblers at Suffolk Downs avoid paying taxes on more than $2 million in winnings.

Gary Boyar, 53, of Charlestown pleaded guilty in February to tax evasion and corruptly endeavoring to impede the Internal Revenue Service, according to a statement from the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. On Thursday, July 25, Boyar was sentenced to one year and one day in prison and ordered to pay $43,149 in restitution to the IRS.

“Boyar was a ‘10-percenter,’ a phrase referring to the 10 percent fee charged by those who cash winning tickets for gamblers so that the gamblers’ identities are not reported to the IRS. This scheme allowed gamblers to avoid paying taxes on their winnings, which were taxable income,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office statement. “When Boyar cashed tickets and submitted forms to the IRS associated with those tickets, he used his deceased father’s Social Security number to obstruct the IRS.”

From 2004 to 2006, the Charlestown man cashed more than $2 million in tickets at Suffolk Downs, a horse racetrack in East Boston, and submitted about 1,713 false IRS forms under his dead father’s Social Security number, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.