July 30, 2007 - Veta B. Faison, 59, recently retired assistant principal at Tallwood Elementary, and her husband, Louis Faison, 62, a retired school teacher, were both sentenced for income tax evasion. Faison retired in March, but for seven years, from 1998 and 2004, the couple claimed zero taxable income and submitted tax protest literature with their returns.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Seidel Jr., who prosecuted the case, noted that the couple lived lavishly during the years they paid no taxes. He said they drove Mercedes-Benz cars, were members of a country club, paid for a $100,000 retirement fund and paid for their children's college education.Veta was sentenced to eight months; Louis was sentenced to 15 months. The couple paid the IRS about $148,000 for back taxes.
Veta Faison's attorney, Franklin A. Swartz, asked the judge to sentence his client to home detention. He called the federal sentencing rules in this case "harsh, rigid and severe," and said that she should be given credit for her 35 years as an educator, her volunteer work and other successes.The judge was not impressed.
