Fort Lauderdale male escort sentenced to 21 months in prison for under-reporting income
A Fort Lauderdale male escort Friday was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in income to the federal government.
Jami Kopacz, 46, admitted that he filed a false tax return in 2018, but he was ordered to pay $278,325 in back taxes to the IRS on the unreported income from his escort business over four years.
Kopacz, who faced up to three years in prison, was given a shorter sentence by U.S. District Judge Roy Altman because he accepted responsibility, promised to repay the IRS and is cooperating with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in an ongoing investigation of South Florida’s escort industry, according to his plea agreement.
Kopacz, described as a “paid escort” by authorities, was the manager and sole shareholder of JK Training LLC, which was located at 901 NE Third St. in Fort Lauderdale. Both he and his business received cash, checks and wire transfers from clients, according to a factual statement filed with his plea agreement. Kopacz’s company also received payments from a private business for whom he worked as an independent contractor and escort.
The false reporting of income on JK Training’s corporate tax return flowed to Kopacz’s individual tax return. But for tax years 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, Kopacz acknowledged in the factual statement that he filed false IRS returns by “knowingly” under-reporting his corporate and personal income.
