A former Cumberland County freeholder was sentenced to 14 months in prison for evading more than a quarter-million dollars in federal taxes from his law firm.
Douglas Long, 55, of Upper Deerfield, was managing partner for the Woodbury-based Long & Marmero, and had primary control over the firm’s finances and supervised their bookkeeper, according to the charges.
Long paid personal expenses out of the firm’s accounts, including tuition for his children, student loans for him and his spouse, and utilities and service fees at his personal residences, acting U.S. Attorney Rachel Honig said.
He had the bookkeeper classify these payments as business expenses to avoid taxes. He also falsely declared, under penalty of perjury, that his personal tax returns for tax years 2012 through 2015 were true and accurate, when they were not.
Long previously pleaded guilty to one count of federal income tax evasion.
He concealed more than $800,000 in personal income and evaded payment of more than $250,000 in taxes owed to the IRS during tax years 2012 through 2015, including $368,000 in income and $120,000 in taxes for 2014.
Long was recognized by NJBIZ as a finalist in the Non-Profit or Government Organization category in the 2015 General Counsel of the Year Awards Program. The program honors New Jersey’s most remarkable General Counsels and Chief Legal Officers and the efforts they have put into building successful companies.
“I’m honored to have been nominated for this award, and I’m sure that it will propel me to do even more for the clients that I represent,” he said at the time. “It’s very humbling to stand beside such extraordinary people from our community, and I look forward to celebrating alongside them.”
Long also is a former co-chairman of the Cumberland County Democratic Party.
In addition to more than a year in prison, U.S. District Judge Noel Hillman also sentenced Long to three years of supervised release, fined him $10,000 and ordered him to pay restitution of $269,736.
Honig credited special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael Montanez, and special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.
