COLUMBUS – For nearly two decades, a Mount Vernon woman conspired with her daughter to avoid paying taxes on millions of dollars of income.
Now, a judge has sentenced the pair to prison and ordered repayment of $3.3 million in back taxes owed to the IRS.
The verdict came via a Feb. 10 press release from the IRS Cincinnati Field Office. Both defendants had pleaded guilty in August of 2020.
Chief U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley sentenced Theresa R. Gregory, 67, of Mount Vernon, and her daughter, Tera L. Gore, 44, of Croton, Ohio.
Gregory must serve 36 months for her part in the scheme and pay a $20,000 fine. Gore received a six-month prison term, plus 12 months of home incarceration.
Between 2009 and 2017, Gregory earned a total of almost $17.5 million as a distributor in a multilevel marketing firm. The duo hid the money by transferring assets into the daughter's name, the investigation found.
"As a distributor, Gregory earned commissions and bonuses based on the volume of products she sold, as well as the volume of products sold by other individuals she recruited to be part of her distributor network," the release stated.
The pair also inflated a bank statement by almost $2 million to help Gregory fund a million-dollar Florida vacation home.
In addition to the house, the tax-free earnings funded a "lavish" lifestyle, according to the release, including cruises, automobiles, mortgage payments, travel to horse shows and purchases from Louis Vuitton and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Other acquisitions included a feed store, an equestrian training center and horseback-riding lessons for Gore's daughter.
Despite Gregory's high earnings, the IRS investigation showed she paid no personal income tax on that income (aside from W-2 withholdings).
"Theresa Gregory earned millions of dollars of income, but she did not file an income tax return for over 20 years," said Bryant Jackson, special agent in charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office. "Gregory and Gore went to great lengths to hide funds from the IRS and evade paying their fair share of taxes."
Gregory's earnings first came under scrutiny in 1993, when the IRS filed liens, launched collection proceedings and triggered audits.
The combined total tax loss for the 1998 through 2006, 2008, and 2014 through 2017 income tax years was $3,759,889.11, the press release said.
Jackson and David M. DeVillers, United States attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, announced the sentence.
Assistant United States attorney Peter K. Glenn-Applegate is prosecuting the case, and special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation conducted the inquiry.
