Prosecutor asks for jail time in tax evasion case
A federal prosecutor has asked a judge to sentence a Rices Landing optometrist to prison for tax evasion during a hearing scheduled for Thursday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Hull wrote that Dr. David P. Alan “was obsessed with not having to pay any taxes on his income.”
Alan, 65, runs offices in Connellsville, Masontown and Waynesburg. Prosecutors alleged he failed to pay the complete amount of taxes he owed between 2000 and 2004, using an offshore company to hide money.
Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to a single count of tax evasion, and in court filings this month, Alan’s attorney asked U.S. District Judge Alan N. Bloch to consider a sentence that does not involve prison time. A presentence report recommended between 18 and 24 months in prison.
Hull, however, argued in a filing Tuesday that Alan was “obsessed” with not having to pay taxes on his income, researched how to avoid doing so and knew that what he was doing was illegal and a “deliberate, calculated attempt to evade paying taxes.”
“Dr. Alan had a lucrative practice that afforded him wealth that permitted him to have purchased a car collection of eight sports cars (including a Porsche and two Ferraris), jewelry, and a condo in Florida while he did not pay his fair share of income taxes,” Hull wrote. “All the while, he did not have any need to cheat on his taxes. These circumstances suggest a pattern of fraud, greed and disrespect for the law by Dr. Alan for at least the five-year period from 2000 through 2005.”
While Alan asked that his good works and dozens of letters in his favor garner him leniency, Hull asked Bloch to consider other qualities.
Hull wrote that Alan denied having ownership of the shell corporation in a legal document filed in 2005. Alan also sued a former office manager for allegedly disclosing confidential information, which he believed led to the IRS investigation. Hull also claimed that Alan forced employees to file fake criminal complaints against former employees.
“While Dr. Alan has presented letters from patients and current employees to foster and promote the notion that he is an asset to the community, Dr. Alan is not as kindly of an employer or member of the community as he presents,” Hull wrote.
Authorities charged Alan failed to pay $221,971 in taxes between 2001 and 2004. He has repaid the back taxes, and with penalties and interest, has paid $620,000, according to filings from his attorney, Thomas Farrell.
Alan will be sentenced Thursday.