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Four plead guilty to roles in tax fraud

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In ongoing litigation involving at least 19 participants, four co-defendants pleaded guilty this week to their roles in a tax fraud scheme that claimed nearly $340,000 in false returns to the IRS.

Jeannie Rhodes, 34, and Johnny Cooper, 28, both of Springfield, Shawna Hughey, 37, of Joplin, and William Coonce, 29, of Otterville, each pleaded guilty to making false claims, according to a news release from the office of Tammy Dickinson, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

The litigation involving the four co-defendants comes about a month after the ringleader, Cherie Christine Dupuis, 43, of Springfield, pleaded guilty to personally making and directing others to create false tax returns between February 2009 and March 2012. Two others, Huntsville, Ark., resident Jeannette Dunn and Pleasant Hope resident Delbert Allen pleaded guilty to their participation earlier this month, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

Through the scheme, the co-defendants claimed roughly $340,630, of which about $336,839 was falsified. The IRS lost over $284,000, according to the release.

In the guilty pleas this week:
    •    Rhodes admitted she helped file a false income tax return in 2012, resulting in a $6,881 loss to the government.
    •    Cooper filed a return for 2012 listing wages he hadn’t earned and asking for a return for which he wasn’t entitled, causing the IRS to lose $10,100. He also admitted he paid Dupuis $2,000 from the proceeds.
    •    Hughey pleaded guilty to filing returns in 2011 and 2012, resulting in a government loss of $22,626. She paid Dupuis roughly $1,500 for the preparation of her and Cooper’s 2011 tax returns.
    •    Coonce said he was helped by Dupuis to file false returns in 2010 and 2011, resulting in a loss of $15,652 to the IRS. He paid Dupuis roughly half of the proceeds.

Under federal statutes, Hughey and Coonce could receive 10 years in federal prison and fines up to $500,000 each. Rhodes and Cooper may be subject to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, according to the release.

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