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Press Release

Lawrenceburg Man Pleads Guilty to Wire and Tax Fraud

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky.A Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, man, Joseph G. Peavler, 53, admitted, in federal court on Friday, committing wire fraud and assisting in the preparation of a false income tax return.       

Peavler pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Danny C. Reeves. In his plea agreement, Peavler admitted that between 2004 and 2018, he managed a warehouse owned by someone else and, during that time, he devised a plan to rent space in the warehouse to two separate entities, keeping the money for himself without knowledge or authority by the owners. That fraud scheme was furthered by interstate wire communications. Peavler also admitted to failing to declare this rent money on his tax returns, for each of the years he received the rent.                     

Peavler was indicted in October 2019.

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; James Robert Brown, Jr., Special Agent in Charge for the Louisville Division of FBI; and Bryant Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, jointly announced the guilty plea.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI and IRS. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erin Roth and Ken Taylor. 

Peavler is scheduled to be sentenced on May 1, 2020 at 10 a.m. He faces up to 23 years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000. However, any sentence will be imposed by the Court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal sentencing statutes. 

This case is being prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s efforts to identify and prosecute those persons who facilitate elder financial exploitation.

            The Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Mission, being carried out through the Kentucky Elder Justice Task Force, is to seek justice for victims of elder financial exploitation.  Anyone who knows someone who may be a victim of an elder financial exploitation, is encouraged to contact law enforcement

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Contact

CONTACT: Gabrielle Dudgeon
PHONE: (859) 685-4887
E-MAIL: gabrielle.dudgeon@usdoj.gov

Updated January 27, 2020

Topic
Tax