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NORTHWEST FLORIDA BUSINESSMAN SENTENCED TOFOUR YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR TAX FRAUD

Pensacola, Florida - Gregory R. Miller, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced that Roy P. Snowden was sentenced today on conviction for five counts of Evasion of Payment of Income Taxes and one count of Conspiracy to Defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Snowden admitted during his November 2006 plea hearing that he was a businessman engaged in a variety of marketing and investment-type ventures, including a magazine distribution business. He had most recently been manufacturing and selling “Java Jo’z” drive-thru coffee businesses. The indictment and factual basis for pleas further proved that his wife was named president and director of the Ft. Walton Beach business, though the indictment alleges she had little to do with its operation.
Snowden admitted that he failed to file accurate and timely income tax returns from 1992 through 1997, and was subsequently assessed taxes by the IRS. After the tax assessment, Snowden admitted he transferred businesses and placed assets in others’ names, and created corporate entities which he used in part to transfer and hold money and property out of the reach of the IRS.
Senior United States District Judge Lacey A. Collier sentenced Snowden to 48 months (four years) imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and to pay a special monetary assessment of $100 per count of conviction. Judge Collier further ordered Snowden to pay $1.16 million restitution to the IRS. To date, Snowden has already paid over $900,000 of that restitution to the IRS.
The investigation was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Heldmyer.