Angelo Dimeglio also will serve time in home confinement and pay a fine after being sentenced Tuesday.
NEWARK -- The president of a Belle Mead landscaping business will spend nine months in prison after being sentenced Tuesday on income tax evasion charges, according to Internal Revenue Service officials.
Angelo Dimeglio was sentenced to nine months in prison, followed by nine months of home confinement by U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares, court records show.
In addition, records show, Linares ordered Dimeglio, president of Caliper Farms Nursery, to pay a fine of $10,000 and serve two years of supervised release following his home confinement.
"Today's sentence should send a clear message; tax evasion is a crime and the consequences can and will result in prison time," said Jonathan D. Larsen, Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation unit in Newark. "This sentence should serve as a deterrent to those who might contemplate similar criminal activity."
Dimeglio, of Lawrenceville, pleaded guilty March 1 to a charge that he falsified his income tax return for 2011. Court records show that prosecutors had charged him with falsifying his returns for other years as well.
Diner owner admits to tax evasion
According to a court filing charging him with tax evasion, Dimeglio filed a 2011 tax return saying his joint income was $25,896 and owing $1,031 in taxes. The record said, however, that their actual income was $552,607 and he owed taxes of $158,619.
According to the IRS, Dimeglio, who had sole control of the Caliper Farms bank account, deposited customer checks into his personal account or the bank accounts of family members. In addition, he wrote business checks payable to himself and family members for personal use.
In total, for the years 2009 through 2013, the IRS said, Dimeglio failed to report around $1.65 million in additional income, on which $429,898 was due.
Dimeglio's plea agreement also required him to pay back taxes and penalties.
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