James H. Caler, 49 of Tempe, Ariz., formerly of Branson, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge James C. England on Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010, to a federal information that charges him with tax evasion for income earned in 2008.
By pleading guilty, James Caler admitted he and his wife, Nancy Caler, had tax problems with the IRS in the late 1980's. The Calers owed taxes and did not want the IRS to place levies on their assets. The Calers have not filed federal income tax returns since the late 1980's and have hidden their taxable income from the IRS ever since.
In order to hide their income, James Caler used the fictitious name of James Adams or J.D. Adams and Nancy Caler used the fictitious names of Marilyn Adams and Marilyn Akers. Using these aliases, James and Nancy Caler obtained fictitious driver’s licenses from Missouri and Arkansas. The Calers then used their fictitious identities to open bank accounts at Bank of America and US Bank.
During 2006 through 2009, the Calers worked for UBuildit, a company located in Arizona. Ubuildit issued James Caler’s and Nancy Caler’s paychecks to limited liability corporations created by the Calers.
The Calers deposited the Ubuildit paychecks into bank accounts established in the alias names of James and Marilyn Adams. At the end of each tax year, James Caler instructed UBuildit to issue IRS Forms 1099 to the limited liability corporations. Caler knew that by doing this the IRS would not be able to detect he was earning income and he would defeat the placement of liens against his assets.
During 2005-2009, James Caler earned additional income from various construction projects, real estate sales and the sale of gold coins. For the tax years 2005 through 2009, the total federal income tax due and owing is $84,683. In 2006, James Caler submitted an IRS Form W-4 to Ubuildit, on which he claimed to be exempt from federal withholding. Because of this, Ubuildit did not withhold taxes from Caler’s pay.
Under federal statutes, Caler is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus and a fine up to $100,000. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Oliver. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.
