New Bedford Fisherman Sentenced for Tax Evasion
NEW BEDFORD — A New Bedford fisherman has been sentenced to time served for tax evasion after failing to pay federal taxes on his six-figure income for several years.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said 43-year-old Victor Cruz failed to pay a tax bill of more than $431,000.
Cruz was sentenced on Tuesday to time served (10 months in prison) and one year of supervised release after pleading guilty to three counts of tax evasion.
According to the office, Cruz failed to file any federal tax returns on his income earned as a crew member on various fishing vessels from 2010 through 2017, while he made an income of $150,000 to $212,000 per year.
He also took measures to prevent federal authorities from tracing his income or calculating his tax liability despite receiving at least two notices from the IRS to file returns and pay delinquent taxes, the office stated.
His nearly $432,000 tax bill does not include delinquency penalties or interest, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Cruz's case is one of several on the New Bedford waterfront in recent months, as federal authorities are cracking down on the city's fishermen for tax evasion, per a report from the New Bedford Light.
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