A 49-year-old Ortonville man who provided false Social Security numbers to casinos after winning millions of dollars was sentenced this week in federal court in Detroit.
Christopher Aaron was sentenced Sept. 3 by U.S. District Court Judge Nancy G. Edmunds to six months home confinement and two years probation as a result of having been convicted by a jury on seventeen counts of an indictment, charging him with making and subscribing false Internal Revenue Service forms under penalty of perjury. Additionally, Aaron was ordered to pay a fine of $170,000 and perform 200 hours of community service.
‘We were very pleased with the sentence,? said Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Pratt, who prosecuted the case.
Evidence at trial showed that Aaron signed over 900 IRS forms, under penalty of perjury, in which he provided false Social Security numbers to the IRS in connection with his gross gambling winnings, which exceeded $3 million between 2000-2003. He then filed federal income tax returns which indicated far less gross gambling income than he actually received. Due to offsetting losses, it could not be determined with certainty whether he avoided paying taxes that were due and owing.
‘He was such a big gambler that in most of those years, his losses exceeded his winnings, except for one year,? Pratt said.
IRS forms require honest information and must be properly filled out by gambling winners, said Maurice Aouate, special agent in charge of the IRS criminal investigative division. He noted that Aaron provided false Social Security numbers to the casinos, intentionally violating the law.
‘Gambling winnings must be honestly reported under our voluntary tax system,? said Acting United States Attorney Terrence Berg. ‘Using false Social Security numbers violates this law and will result in vigorous prosecution.?
Defense Attorney Richard Lustig could not be reached for comment.