A former St. John couple pled guilty to lying in order to get more than $400,000 in income tax refunds just days before they were set to go on trial.
George and Barbara Gasich, now of Bradenton, Fla., both pled guilty during a hearing Wednesday afternoon at the U.S. District Court in Hammond to one count each of false tax refund claims. They pled guilty without an agreement with federal attorneys. U.S. District Judge Philip Simon set their sentencing hearing for Jan. 15. They could not be reached for comment.
The couple also agreed to accept lawyers to represent them after representing themselves for more than a year, according to court records.
Federal attorneys charged the George Gasich, 55, and Barbara Gasich, 53, in June 2014 with seven counts of lying on their 2006 through 2008 federal income tax returns in order to claim a total of $1.155 million in refunds.
Federal attorneys also argued in court filings that the couple had a 15-year history of issues with the income taxes and tried to a check to the IRS in the same month they were charged for $106,896. The check, which was supposed to cover their liabilities was fake in that the bank it supposedly came from didn’t exist, the government said in its filings.
The couple had fought the charges vigorously, claiming in recent motion that the charges were past the statute of limitations. Federal attorneys responded with a waiver they had signed in 2013. The Gasichs had also fought the authority of the federal government, arguing that the federal government only has jurisdiction over property it owns and referring to the federal court as an emergency war power court.
They also argued the charges should be dropped because they had filed two surety bonds totalling more than $3 million.
Simon had rejected their motions and told the couple, who at one point said they would not attend their trial or anymore hearings, that they would be arrested if they did not.
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He canceled the trial date after they pled guilty but is giving federal attorneys two weeks to decide whether they will pursue the other charges.