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Fed tax evasion charges for Chesterhill pair

A Morgan County couple charged with operating a multi-state drug trafficking operation that led to $1.3 million in assets seized has now been indicted on federal tax charges.

Hank and Marsha Holloway, of Chesterhill, were indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday for filing false income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service for 2006, 2007 and 2008, according to a release from the IRS. The couple allegedly claimed total income of $42,894 for those years when their actual income was approximately $443,830.

Filing a false federal income tax return is punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Hank Holloway, 57, is already serving five years in jail after pleading guilty last year to five counts of state income tax fraud and one RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) charge. Marsha Holloway was sentenced to five years of community control on the same counts.

The RICO charge relates to the Holloways’ drug operation, said Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks. The Major Crimes Task Force, which has officers from Washington and Morgan counties, worked on the case.

“RICO can be several different things … this related to drugs on the kingpin statue,” Mincks said. “They were operating a multi-state drug operation stretching from Arizona to Chesterhill. They were bringing in large quantities of marijuana and transporting large quantities in cash.”

Under the previous charges, the couple forfeited $957,000 in cash and hundreds of thousands of dollars more in assets that were later auctioned off.

“There were a lot of guns, a lot of cars, new TVs, pool tables, hot tubs,” said Mincks. “What we were able to get from that was $1.3 million. The Morgan County prosecutor now has a check for that and it will be distributed among the agencies.”

Mincks said he believes the longtime drug operation was a multi-million dollar business.

“It’s an example of a multi-million operation in Chesterhill, Ohio,” he said. “It’s not always in Phoenix, Ariz. or Dallas, Texas. They’re all over.”

Special Agent Craig Casserly, public information officer with the IRS in Columbus, said any sentence given to the Holloways on the federal charges would begin after their current sentences end.

“Since it’s a separate charge anything that occurs will be in addition to what they’re already facing,” he said.

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