ELLSWORTH, Maine — A Lamoine man facing criminal charges for not paying state income taxes for five years has pleaded guilty and agreed to repay nearly $140,000 to the state, according to the Maine attorney general’s office.
Stephen E. Wardman, 64, faced 18 charges related to his failure to pay income taxes in Maine from 2009 through 2014.
He had purported to live in Florida, a state without an income tax, in order to avoid his Maine income tax obligations, the state prosecutor’s office indicated in a prepared statement released late Tuesday. He used a mail forwarding service to have his mail sent from Florida to Maine, and he registered to vote in Florida but never voted there, the statement indicated.
State prosecutors say Wardman, a merchant mariner, had not paid his Maine income taxes for 15 years, starting in 1999, but could only be criminally charged for years 2009 through 2014 because of the statute of limitations.
“The plea agreement, however, requires Wardman to repay the state all of the income tax due from 1999 through 2014, plus interest, totaling $139,585 in restitution to the people of Maine,” state officials wrote in the release.
Wardman appeared June 24 before Justice Joyce Wheeler in Cumberland County Superior Court to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charges, prosecutors indicated.
Wardman faced three criminal counts for each of those six years for which he was charged for not paying income taxes: tax evasion, failure to pay income taxes and failure to file a tax return.
Tax evasion is a Class C felony that carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison, plus fines. Failure to pay income taxes and failure to file a tax return are Class D misdemeanors, with each count punishable by a maximum possible penalty of 364 days in jail, plus fines.
As part of the plea deal, Wardman pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charges of failure to pay income taxes and failure to file a tax return. Sentencing will be deferred for 20 months to give him time to pay the restitution order, of which $20,000 already had been paid, state officials said. As part of the restitution order, Wardman is being required to forfeit the contents of an investment account, the balance of which was not disclosed in the statement.
Wardman will be required to make monthly payments of $6,000 during the 20-month deferred sentencing period, state prosecutors said. At the end of that period, if he complies with the terms of his agreement, Wardman will plead guilty to six misdemeanor counts of income tax evasion and will face up to nine months in jail. If not, he will face Class C tax evasion felony charges.
The balance of any restitution remaining when Wardman is sentenced will be paid under a payment plan set at that time by the court, according to the statement.
