Tax evader sentenced to federal prison, ordered to pay $439,515 in restitution

http://www.omaha.com/news/crime/tax-evader-sentenced-to-federal-prison-ordered-to-pay-in/article_63c0547c-4b6f-11e5-9a98-8f00b14f08fb.html

POSTED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015 12:22 AM | UPDATED: 9:15 AM, WED AUG 26, 2015.
By Alissa Skelton / World-Herald staff writer

A boastful tax evader didn’t go down without a long-winded argument.

Chet Lee West, 59, of Nebo, North Carolina, still is convinced that he found a loophole in the federal tax code that doesn’t require him to pay income taxes.

Six months after West was convicted of three counts of felony tax evasion, he makes daily phone calls from jail to his supporters, claiming that he has beaten the federal government. During these calls, West encourages others to forgo paying income taxes, just as he had done before he was convicted during a jury trial in February.

In Omaha on Tuesday, West, who acted as his own attorney, asked a federal judge to release him and not require him to pay his tax liability. He also asked the judge to expunge his record of all crimes.

FULL story at link.