HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WHLT) – A Purvis man was sentenced to 34 months in federal prison for assisting in the preparation of a materially false tax return.

U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca said Terance Dewune Price, 41, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Hattiesburg. In addition to his term of imprisonment, Price was ordered to pay a $15,000 fine and $58,582 in restitution to the IRS.

According to court documents, Price was identified in an investigation by the IRS-CI as a tax preparer who assisted in the preparation and presentation to the IRS of a false U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040, for an individual A. E. for the calendar year 2017. 

According to LaMarca, the investigation revealed that the return was false and fraudulent as to a material matter in that the information provided on Line 53, a “Residential Energy Credit”, and information on Line 64, for “Federal Income Tax Withheld from Form 1099,” was false, and the defendant knew it was false. 

Price pled guilty on April 17, 2023, to assisting in the preparation of a materially false tax return.

The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation.