Department of Justice Press Release Number: 22-1256 - Topic(s): Tax

A Florida man was sentenced today to 36 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the IRS in connection with his ownership and operation of illegal gambling businesses in the Canton, Ohio area.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2009 through 2018, Larry Dayton, along with other co-conspirators, owned and operated two illegal gambling businesses, Skilled Shamrock and Redemption. As part of his guilty plea, Dayton admitted to conspiring with the other owners to defraud the IRS by filing false tax returns that omitted the cash income he received from illegal gambling. In 2013, Dayton stopped participating in the daily operation of illegal gambling businesses. Between 2013 and 2018, Dayton nonetheless continued to receive his share of the profits from the businesses, in cash, even though he no longer was a declared owner of the enterprises. Dayton also admitted to fraudulently placing the gambling businesses in the names of others to conceal the true ownership interests of the other co-conspirators and himself. In total, Dayton did not report to the IRS more than $2 million in income.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent ordered Larry Dayton to serve three years of supervised release and pay $938,000 in restitution to the United States.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler for the Northern District of Ohio made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Office of the Inspector General, the Ohio Casino Control Commission, and the Ohio Casino Control Commission investigated the case. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations provided substantial assistance in the investigation.

Trial Attorneys Richard M. Rolwing and Sam Bean of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Patton and David Toepfer for the Northern District of Ohio prosecuted the case.

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