Wilton Attorney Gets Two Months in Prison for Tax Fraud

A Wilton-based attorney was sentenced Friday to two months in prison followed by one year of supervised release for filing false tax returns and for obstructing the Internal Revenue Service, according to a statement released by David B. Fein, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

Joseph Colbert, 44, will serve the first six months of his supervised release term confined to his home and is ordered to pay a $15,000 fine and perform 150 hours of community service. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Colbert  filed false federal tax returns in 2006, 2007 and 2008. In each of the returns, Colbert falsely claimed that he had sustained thousands of dollars in losses on a rental property in New Jersey when, in fact, the New Jersey property was not a rental property, but was exclusively for his personal use. In total, Colbert underpaid his federal tax obligation by more than $133,000.

and admitted that he sought to obstruct the IRS by making false statements during a 2010 audit of his tax returns. He has paid restitution to the U.S. Treasury in the amount of $190,822.87, which includes back taxes, interest and penalties.