Ozark lawyer disbarred over tax violations

Last edited 2:08 p.m., Feb. 6, 2014

The Missouri Supreme Court has disbarred an Ozark attorney who pleaded guilty last year to dodging taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service.

Michael C. Stoffregen - who owned The Disability and Elder Law Center, formerly known as the Law Offices of MC Stoffregen, in Springfield - pleaded guilty in May 2013 to willfully failing to pay employee payroll taxes to the government and willfully failing to file individual tax returns, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

The high court of Missouri, which had previously suspended Stoffregen's license on July 16, 2013, yesterday issued an order disbarring him.

In his guilty plea last year, Stoffregen admitted he failed to pay $12,251 in employment taxes to the IRS for the years 2009-11. For the years 2008-11, he admitted he failed to file individual tax returns. During that time, his law firm reportedly had $802,720 in gross profits, according to SBJ archives.