Former Guernsey County CDC director Daniel Speedy pleads guilty to filing false tax return
COLUMBUS — The former director of the Guernsey County Community Development Corporation has pleaded guilty to a felony fraud charge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in connection with filing a false tax return.
The plea by Daniel Speedy, 60, of Cambridge, was accepted Monday by Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King during a video conference after he previously waived his right to appear in person.
According to the court's online documents, the case will be presented to a district judge for approval of the plea and sentencing after completion of a pre-sentence investigation report ordered by King.
Filing a false income tax return carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Speedy was charged with the level 4 felony offense by a bill of information filed with the Southern District Court on Oct. 25.
The Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation unit reported Speedy willfully failed to accurately report all the income he earned from various sources including the CDC, on his individual income tax returns for tax years 2011 through 2015.
“The defendant omitted income from a variety of sources,” said Special Agent in Charge Bryant Jackson of the IRS Criminal Investigation's Cincinnati Field Office. “This case is a reminder that income derived from any source is subject to income taxes, and those who intentionally omit their income will face criminal tax prosecution.”
According to court records, Speedy was contracted by the Guernsey County CDC through his company, Monster Management LLC, to provide services that included contract director from approximately January 2011 through July 2015.
During this time, Speedy controlled various financial aspects of the CDC.
The IRS Criminal Investigation unit reported Speedy filed his 2014 tax return alleging $60,786 in total income when he should have reported at least $1,116,671.
The omitted income included, but was not limited to, rental income, oil and natural gas royalties, income from overpayments on real estate sales, and gains on sales of real estate.
As a result of Speedy filing false tax returns for the tax years 2011 through 2015, the IRS sustained a tax loss exceeding $444,934.25.
An online court record from Monday's hearing said Speedy stated during confirmation of his guilty plea that he was pleading that way because he "is guilty of that offense."
Speedy was terminated from his executive director position by the CDC Board of Directors in June 2015.
A civil case filed by the Guernsey County Community Development Corporation on Sept. 13, 2016, against Speedy and co-defendants One Percent LLC, Cambridge; Monster Management LLC, Lore City; Dora Speedy, Cambridge; David Karl Schaffner, New Philadelphia; Shaffner Law Offices Co. LPA, New Philadelphia; Whispering Pines Land Company LLC, New Philadelphia; Synergy Land Company LLC, New Philadelphia; Homestead Utica LLC, Lore City; Kimberly Allen, Cambridge; Gerald Leister, Cumberland; Bonnie Braden, Cambridge; Robert E. Oakley, Cambridge; Frank Fleischer, Palm Coast, Fla.; and Kenneth Hill, Zanesville, is scheduled for trial on July 19, 2022, in the Guernsey County Common Pleas Court.
The federal case is being prosecuted by Assistant Deputy Criminal Chief Jessica W. Knight.
Court records show Speedy is being represented by Martin Stanley Pinales and Stephanie Franxman Kessler of Pinales Stachler Young Burrell & Crouse Co. LPA of Cincinnati.
The terms of the negotiated plea were not available.
No sentencing date has been scheduled. Legal counsel will have 14 days to review the pre-sentence investigation report after it is completed.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Ex-Guernsey County development chief pleads guilty on false tax return
