Nevada business owner pleads guilty to failing to pay taxes on $1.5 million of income

(From the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri)

A Nevada, Missouri, business owner who failed to pay taxes on nearly $1.5 million of income pleaded guilty in federal court today to filing a false tax return.

“When businesses and individuals don’t pay their fair share in taxes, they are breaking the law and cheating their law-abiding neighbors,” said U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore. “This business owner shirked his responsibilities as a citizen by willfully failing to pay taxes on nearly $1.5 million of income.”

Kevin R. Morrow, 53, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to a federal information that charges him with filing a false tax return.

“This time of year, hard-working Americans are preparing to submit their federal tax returns, and the majority of them will fully and honestly report their income,” said IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher, St. Louis Field Office. “In fairness to them, IRS-Criminal Investigation will aggressively pursue those who attempt to avoid paying their fair share of taxes and hold them accountable.”

By pleading guilty today, Morrow admitted that he omitted a total of $1,467,326 in income from the federal income tax returns he filed from 2014 through 2016. During that time, Morrow operated Morrow Show Steers, a cattle sale business, but did not report any of this income and, therefore, did not pay any taxes on this income. According to today’s plea agreement, Morrow’s false tax returns led to federal tax due and owing in the amount of $92,928. The total tax loss to the Missouri Department of Revenue is $11,910. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Morrow must pay a total of $104,838 in restitution to the federal government and the state of Missouri.

The specific charge to which Morrow pleaded guilty today is filing a false tax return on April 15, 2017. Morrow falsely claimed he received income of only $13,617 in 2016, and willfully did not report that he received additional income of $444,462 from his cattle sale business.

Under federal statutes, Morrow is subject to a sentence of up to three years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Casey Clark and Shannon Kempf. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Missouri Department of Revenue – Compliance and Investigation Bureau.