A Nogales man convicted in a federal tax-fraud scheme has been sentenced to more than six years in prison.
Scott William Acorn, 43, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Tucson in connection with a scheme to file false federal tax returns and collect more than $1 million.
Acorn, and accomplice Oscar Leon of Tucson, were arrested in 2012 in connection with the scheme.
Acorn pleaded guilty in March to four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the government, filing a false tax claim for refund, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He originally faced more than 60 federal charges.
“The government seeks the maximum allowable sentence under the plea agreement so that lawful society is finally spared defendant’s influence for at least a few years,” federal prosecutors wrote in the sentencing document.
Court documents say Acorn and Leon were able to acquire personal information on 1,117 people and file false tax returns in their names.
The defendants initially sought more than $1 million in tax returns and eventually collected more than $400,000 in fraudulent tax returns.
Initial reports indicate federal authorities thought the two defendants were able to access personal information because of Leon’s access through his work as a GED instructor working for Pima County.
A sentencing memorandum doesn’t specify how the information was acquired.
The document does show portions of transcripts from conversations Acorn had with his children and mother while in custody in which he makes threats against his co-defendant and talks of ways he intends to minimize his sentence.
In those conversations, Acorn instructs his children to send threatening messages on social media to Leon, whom he believed had cooperated with federal authorities.
“Send him that message ... say yea ... my dad says thanks for being a snitch,” he told one son.
Court documents show Acorn’s children did send the messages, which federal authorities later investigated.
Acorn also spoke openly about his intention to feign drug addiction so he would be placed into a federal treatment program that reduces prison sentences for inmates who successfully complete the program.
In a defense sentencing memo, Acorn’s attorney said her client has Tourette’s syndrome, which caused the defendant impulse control problems and a propensity for risk-taking. Acorn’s history of health problems resulted in frequent drug abuse, the attorney wrote requesting leniency.
Leon also was charged with conspiracy to defraud the government, filing false tax returns and aggravated identify theft in the 2012 indictment. His case has since been sealed.
No information on a plea agreement was available for Leon in federal court records.
