Florida man is sentenced to prison for filing false tax return

FLORIDA — A Tampa man has been sentenced for filing a false tax return, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida has announced.

U.S. District Judge Charlene E. Honeywell has sentenced Steven Brickner to 12 months and a day for filing a false U.S. Individual Income Tax Return for the tax year 2017, the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) said. The Court also imposed a $7,500 fine.

Brickner pleaded guilty on February 11, 2022.

According to the USAO and court documents, Brickner engaged in a scheme to defraud investors in various companies that he claimed were involved in the business of marijuana cultivation and distribution. He reportedly convinced investors to invest money in a variety of different enterprises but wound up using most of those funds for personal uses and to purchase high-end collector automobiles.

In July 2021, Brickner was ordered by the United States District Court in the Middle District of Florida to disgorge to the victims of this fraud scheme over $2,420,000 as a result of a civil lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the USAO said.

According to the USAO, Brickner earned more than $1,055,503 in income in the tax year 2017 from the above activity that he did not report on his Individual Income Tax Returns for that year. Due to his failure to file accurate tax returns for that year, Brickner caused a loss to the IRS of $172,164.39.

“Honest law-abiding citizens are fed up with the likes of those who use other people’s money as their own personal piggy bank,” said IRS-CI Acting Special Agent in Charge Ronald A. Loecker.

“Mr. Brickner caused lasting harm to not only those financially connected to him but to every hard-working taxpayer who pays into our tax system. This sentencing reassures the American public that Mr. Brickner’s actions will not go unpunished.”

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, with the assistance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Florida Office of Financial Regulation-Bureau of Financial Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jay L. Hoffer.