A Gypsum man has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison after he set up a fake church to avoid paying taxes on what he said was a $250,000 charitable contribution to the organization.
Trenton Switzer, 40, of Gypsum was sentenced this week to pay a restitution fee of $241,964, in addition to the prison time, after pleading guilty to tax fraud on April 26 of this year, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
“Mr. Switzer’s claim to be the pastor of a fake church he created to evade his taxes landed him in a real prison,” Acting U.S. Attorney Matt Kirsch said in the release. “My office will continue to aggressively pursue people who cheat on their taxes.”
GRAND JUNCTION The U.S. Attorney s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Trenton Switzer of Gypsum, CO pleaded guilty for willfully making and subscribing a false tax return.
According to the filed information and the stipulated facts in the plea agreement, Switzer created a nonprofit corporation in Colorado called the Church of Divine Sovereignty. During the 24 hours that this corporation legally existed, Switzer obtained an Employer Identification Number and opened a bank account in its name. Later, Switzer deposited $250,000 in the account and informed his return preparer that these deposits were charitable contributions. After determining that Switzer s Church of Divine Sovereignty did not qualify as a charitable organization, the preparer advised Switzer that the payments were not deductible. Despite these warnings, Switzer nevertheless signed and personally filed his 2015 U.S. Federal Tax Return, falsely claiming a $250,000 charitable contribution deduction.
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