Legal pot business owner sentenced for federal tax crimes

Source: Associated Press


Updated 7:01 pm CDT, Monday, September 17, 2018

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A part-owner and operator of medical marijuana dispensaries in Oregon was sentenced to seven months in prison Monday, marking what a prosecutor called the country's first federal sentencing of a legal pot business owner for tax crimes.

Matthew Price also was ordered to pay $262,776 restitution to the Internal Revenue Service during sentencing in federal court in Portland, the Oregonian/OregonLive reported .

Price, 32, pleaded guilty to four counts of willfully failing to file income tax returns in connection with his Cannabliss stores in Portland and Eugene. Price admitted that he didn't file individual tax returns from 2011 through 2014 for income received from the operation of the dispensaries.

An investigation into Price started after the IRS discovered he hadn't paid employment taxes for his employees.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Legal-pot-business-owner-sentenced-for-federal-13236348.php