A Madison woman was sentenced Friday to a year and a day in federal prison for avoiding paying more than $3 million in taxes on money skimmed from the proceeds of video gambling machines in bars.
Mary Lavine, 65, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and to filing a false 2018 corporate income tax return for Bullseye Inc., a business she co-owned, Scott Blader, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, said in a statement.
U.S. District Judge James Peterson also fined Lavine $75,000, ordered her to serve two years of supervised release after prison and ordered her to pay restitution of $834,770 to the IRS and $1,927,853 to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.
According to a sentencing memorandum filed by prosecutors in January, the year and a day sentence was sought by both prosecutors and Lavine’s attorney.
Bullseye is a Madison-based coin-operated music and amusement game vending business that Lavine admitted had contracted with bar owners to place video gambling machines in their businesses, then split the profits with the bar owners, Blader said.
Different bar owners had different profit-sharing agreements with Bullseye, and Lavine admitted that some agreed to skim funds generated by the machines and not report all of the funds to the IRS or state Department of Revenue. The underreporting caused Bullseye to evade its corporate income taxes, as Bullseye and bar owners evaded Wisconsin sales taxes and income taxes, Blader said.
Blader said that between 2015 to 2018, Bullseye evaded $3,028,930 in federal and state taxes.
At her sentencing hearing, Lavine apologized for her criminal conduct and told Peterson she went along with the tax evasion scheme of Bullseye’s other owner for so long because he promised to make her the majority owner of the business, but he reneged on that promise, Blader said. Majority owner Terry Volk died in 2018. Prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo that Lavine lost her position as the company’s president and Volk’s estate had a receiver appointed to run Bullseye and appraise it for liquidation.
Peterson told Lavine that her quest to be the majority owner was a “drug that caused her to compromise her basic values and commit tax evasion to achieve her end goal.” Peterson also told Lavine the size of the tax evasion scheme, the large tax loss and the long period of criminal activity all justified a prison term, Blader said.
Peterson said the sentence “will send the message to the business community that no special rules apply to cash businesses. It’s easy to cheat and skim cash, but it is still taxable.”
“Business owners need to be aware that this type of conduct will not be tolerated and will lead to incarceration,” Peterson added.
Five people now have pleaded guilty as part of the tax evasion investigation and Lavine is the fourth to be sentenced.
Middleton Sport Bowl owners Dudley Hellenbrand and Cherie Hellenbrand each were sentenced to six months in prison, vending company owner Thomas Laugen was sentenced to a year and a day in prison, and Colin Albany, who was Bullseye’s general manager, is scheduled to be sentenced on May 6.
Columbus woman charged in murder-for-hire plot tops recent notable crime-related news
Columbus woman charged in murder-for-hire plot
A Columbus woman was charged Monday in federal court with trying to hire someone over the internet to kill a man.
Kelly R. Harper, 37, was arrested Friday after federal and local investigators were tipped off by the intended victim and journalists who reportedly uncovered the plot. Harper faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of using the internet to hire someone to commit murder, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Columbus woman charged in murder-for-hire plot to remain in custody
A Columbus woman charged Monday with attempting to buy a man’s murder through the internet’s “dark web” will remain in custody for now, after a brief hearing in federal court Tuesday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Chad Elgersma told U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Crocker that prosecutors intend to take the case against Kelly R. Harper, 37, to a grand jury on Wednesday to seek a formal indictment. Harper was charged in a criminal complaint Monday with using the internet to hire someone to commit murder.
Not guilty plea entered for boy accused of shooting infant, will seek waiver to juvenile court
A 16-year-old Albany boy accused of shooting to death his newborn daughter last month pleaded not guilty to first-degree intentional homicide after waiving his right to a preliminary hearing in the matter on Friday.
Logan T. Kruckenberg-Anderson now intends to seek to send his case from adult criminal court, where it was originally filed in Green County, into juvenile court under a procedure set in state law.
Far East Side homeowner wakes up to see burglar wearing headlamp, Madison police say
A Far East Side homeowner woke up early Monday morning and saw a burglar standing outside his bedroom door wearing a headlamp, Madison police reported.
When the homeowner in the 5300 block Park Meadow Drive woke up about 3:35 a.m. and saw the burglar, that person quickly fled back out through the garage door, police spokesman Tyler Grigg said in a report.
Man shows up at hospital with gunshot wound after shots reported on East Side, Madison police say
A man showed up at a local hospital with a gunshot wound Monday night after shots were reported on the East Side, Madison police reported.
Officers were dispatched at 8:52 p.m. on the report of shots in the 3000 block of Webb Avenue, Sgt. Kurt Wege said in a report.
Barneveld man arrested for battery, strangulation, suffocation in domestic case, Iowa County authorities say
A Barneveld man was arrested Wednesday afternoon for battery, strangulation and suffocation in a domestic case, Iowa County authorities reported.
Iowa County deputies and Barneveld police officers arrested Joseph C. Jordee Jr., 31, after making contact with him on Ruste Road in Barneveld about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, the Iowa County Sheriff’s Office said in a report.
Stolen car raced at 100 mph before crashing into 67-year-old man's car on East Side
A 67-year-old man's car was hit by a stolen car on the East Side Thursday morning after the stolen car was racing at around 100 mph, Madison police said.
The 67-year-old man was driving on E. Washington Avenue near N. Fourth Street when he was hit by the stolen white Kia Forte at around 6:10 a.m., Madison police spokesperson Tyler Grigg said.
Judge says astronomer's case against American Girl doll can proceed, dismisses some claims
A Chicago astronomer’s claim that Middleton-based dollmaker American Girl appropriated the astronomer’s likeness will go forward, a federal judge ruled Thursday, though he dismissed some of the claims made in the lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge James Peterson said he would allow Lucianne Walkowicz, an astronomer and science presenter based at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium, to pursue a false endorsement claim against American Girl related to its 2018 Girl of the Year doll called Luciana Vega.
Sparta woman dies when thrown from SUV, hit by car on I-90 near Tomah, State Patrol says
A Sparta woman was killed when she was thrown from her SUV during a crash on Interstate 90 near Tomah Friday morning and then hit by a car, the State Patrol reported.
The 35-year-old woman, who was not named pending notification of family, was driving alone east on I-90 in a 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe shortly before 5:45 a.m. when she lost control, most likely due to road conditions, Sgt. Gary Helgerson said in a report.
Man's car stolen with young child still inside while picking up food on East Side
A man’s car was stolen with his child still inside of it while it was left running on the East Side Friday evening, Madison police said.
The man was inside of a restaurant picking up food on the 1900 block of Winnebago Street about 6:05 p.m., and his car was left unlocked and running with his young child inside, Sgt. Gregory Sosoka said. The car was gone by the time he got back.
