U.S. Attorney’s Office June 11,
2013 • Northern District of Illinois(312) 353-5300
CHICAGO—Regina Evans and her
husband, Ronald Evans, the former police chief and the former inspector
general, respectively, of suburban Country Club Hills, were each charged today
with three counts of filing false federal income tax returns for allegedly
failing to report all of their income during calendar years 2007-09. They were
charged in a felony information filed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
Regina Evans’ attorney has
authorized the government to disclose that she will be pleading guilty to the
tax charges after the government files a request to transfer the case against
her to the Central District of Illinois in Springfield for disposition. Regina
Evans, 50, who was Country Club Hills police chief from 2009 to 2011, and
Ronald Evans, 46, are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Springfield
on June 18.
The defendants were charged
with failing to report all of their income in 2009, when they allegedly converted
to personal income more than $500,000 of a $1.25 million state grant. They also
allegedly failed to report all of their income in 2007, 2008, and 2009 from
Prime Time Limousine, a Chicago transportation and security services company
that they jointly owned and operated.
According to the charging
document, Regina Evans founded and ran an organization called We Are Our
Brother’s Keeper that, in 2009, received a $1.25 million employment
opportunities grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity to provide pre-apprenticeship educational and vocational training
for people employed in building trades, such as bricklayers and electricians.
The couple allegedly used more than $500,000 for non-grant-related personal
purposes, making that money personal income.
On their federal income tax
return for 2009, the couple stated that Prime Time’s gross receipts were
approximately $150,000, knowing that its gross receipts totaled more than
$201,297. They also allegedly stated that they did not have any other income,
knowing that they had converted at least $500,000 in grant money.
In 2007, the defendants
allegedly filed a false tax return by reporting Prime Time’s gross receipts
were approximately $205,290, when the business actually had gross receipts
totaling more than $360,649, and they allegedly filed a false 2008 tax return
stating Prime Time’s gross receipts were approximately $150,630, when it
actually had gross receipts of more than $291,414.
The charges were announced
today by Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of
Illinois, and James C. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue
Service-Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago. The Chicago Office of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation participated in the investigation.
Filing a false federal income
tax return carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000
fine. In addition, a defendant convicted of tax offenses faces mandatory costs
of prosecution and remains civilly liable to the government for any and all
back taxes, as well as a potential civil fraud penalty of up to 75 percent of
the underpayment plus interest. If convicted, the court must determine a
reasonable sentence to be imposed under federal statutes and the advisory
United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The government is being
represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Hammerman.
The public is reminded that an
information contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant
is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government
has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.