Ky. doctor pleads guilty to tax evasion, admits he didn’t report $887K in income
A Kentucky doctor pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal tax evasion charge, admitting he avoided more than $283,000 in taxes by failing to report to the IRS about $887,000 in income, prosecutors announced.
Christopher Marek, 49, is a doctor in Danville who was indicted for tax evasion in June and pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court. Between 2015 and 2019, Marek under-reported income earned through his business, Central Kentucky Plastic Surgery.
He didn’t list direct payments from patients as income on his taxes and he only partially listed payments he received from insurance companies, according to his plea agreement.
Marek under-reported his income “while deliberately avoiding reputable tax advice and while understanding there was a strong probability that, in fact, both patient and insurance company payments to his medical practice needed to be reported to the IRS,” his plea agreement stated. “In so acting, (Marek) closed his eyes to what was obvious regarding his taxable income.”
Marek had initially been charged with five counts of tax evasion, four counts of making false statements on his tax return, and one count of aiding and assisting in making a false tax return, according to court records. He reached a plea agreement with the United States and pleaded guilty to just one of the tax evasion counts. The U.S. was willing to dismiss all other charges.
The indictment against Marek accused him of failing to report a much larger amount of income – more than $2 million over the course of five years. The indictment also alleged that he reported his 2018 income to be $-416,820 but failed to report more than $887,000 in earnings.
The amount of tax he admitted to evading was still the same as what he’d initially been accused of, according to the indictment and plea agreement: $283,687.
There was no evidence that Marek’s actions ever negatively impacted his ability to treat patients at Central Kentucky Plastic Surgery, according to court records.
Marek is set to be sentenced on May 6 in Lexington, prosecutors said. He’ll be sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves. He could face a maximum prison sentence of five years, but the court will determine his sentence based on U.S. sentencing guidelines and federal statutes.
In addition to potential imprisonment, Marek has agreed to pay back what he owed in taxes as restitution to the IRS, according to court records. He could also face up to three years of probation.
Marek had been set to go to trial in November, but the trial was pushed back until February and then canceled after Marek entered his guilty plea.
