Judge sentences husband to prison, wife to probation in tax fraud case

Faced with the possibility of sending a couple who has three children to prison on felony theft and tax evasion, Muscogee County Superior Court Judge Gil McBride opted to sentence Ken Degourville to 10 years in prison, five to serve, and his wife, Lakeisha, to 15 years probation on Thursday.

The Degourvilles ran the 3551 Macon Road business Tax Time that state and local authorities raided on Nov. 17, 2014, accusing them of falsely claiming deductions to inflate tax returns they filed for a fee, defrauding the state of revenue. The state claimed the Degourvilles defrauded the Georgia Department of Revenue of more than $1.2 million from 2011-13 by filing inflated tax returns for clients. In 2013, the state paid out more than $462,000 based on fraudulent returns.

Facing a 33-count indictment, a Superior Court jury on June 10 convicted the Degourvilles of one count each of felony theft and tax evasion. McBride sentenced Ken Degourville to 10 years on the theft charge and five years probation on the tax evasion charge. He then ordered him to serve five years in state prison and to spend the final 10 years on probation.

McBride then sentenced Lakeisha Degourville to 15 years probation on the combined counts with no prison time.

He ordered them to pay $25,000 each in fines and to not be involved in any way in the tax preparation business.

“We would have loved to have seen them both serving time, but we can only ask,” said Chief Deputy Assistant District Attorney Alonza Whitaker. “The sentence is what it is. We’re prepared to go to the next outline and that’s the restitution hearing.”

Whitaker asked the judge to send a message, despite the fact that the Degourvilles have three children ranging in age from 8 to 15, and both parents in prison would have caused family hardship.

“Our main point was we need to send a message that there are consequences for your actions,” Whitaker said. “If I can steal $400,000 and get probation, what’s to stop me? That was our message. The consequences has to be tantamount to the risks.”

Columbus attorney Mike Garner represented Lakeisha Degourville and was pleased with the sentence.

“In view of the evidence that was presented, the judge gave an appropriate sentence,” Garner said. “This was a huge case to start with and it was twiddled down to a relatively small case.”

Ken Degourville’s attorney, William Kendrick, asked McBride to give his client probation before the sentence was handed down.

“Mr. Degourville is just as essential to the family as Mrs. Degourville,” Kendrick argued.

Lakeisha and Ken Degourville both testified during the sentencing, asking McBride for mercy but stopping short of admitting that they did anything wrong.

“I never meant to do anything with criminal intent,” Lakeisha Degourville said.

Crying while she was questioned by prosecutor Pete Temesgen, Lakeisha Degourville was asked, “Do you admit that these tax returns were fraudulent?”

“No I do not,” she responded.

Her husband was asked a similar question.

“Any fraud done, I was not aware of it,” he said.

During the trial, one prosecution witness told the court she used Tax Time for her 2013 returns, but was never shown a profit-loss statement claiming she owned a business until state revenue agents later brought it to her attention.

She did not own a business and never claimed to, she said.

As Whitaker went over her tax return for the jury, she, at his direction, noted claims that she had a direct-sales business, with a $3,920 profit, $2,905 in vehicle costs, $201 in advertising expenses, $3,309 for insurance, $4,019 in office expenses, $3,017 for machinery, $3,321 for maintenance, and a net loss of $18,107.

This story was originally published July 14, 2016 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Judge sentences husband to prison, wife to probation in tax fraud case."