Spokane — Joseph H. Harrington, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Jonathon F. Schumann, of Richland, Washington, was sentenced today after having pleaded guilty on November 5, 2020, to three counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of false income tax returns. United States District Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr. sentenced Schumann to a 6-month term of imprisonment, to run concurrent to a 1-year term of court supervision. Judge Mendoza ordered Schumann to pay $195,202 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"), and to pay $50,000 of that amount no later than March 25, 2021. According to information disclosed during court proceedings, Schumann operated a tax return preparation business under the name J's Income Tax out of his residence in Richland, Washington. Through J's Income Tax, Schumann prepared false tax returns for clients in Washington and Las Vegas, Nevada claiming fraudulent and inflated itemized deductions, including charitable contributions, personal property taxes and unreimbursed employee business expenses. By including these false items, Schumann's clients received tax refunds from the IRS in excess of what they were entitled to receive. The fraudulent claims resulted in a loss of $195,202 to the IRS.