N. Ga. couple sentenced in tax fraud scheme

ATLANTA (AP) Federal prosecutors say a husband and wife from Jackson County have been sentenced for their involvement in a tax fraud scheme.

Officials say 51-year-old Timothy Thomas and 47-year-old Mary Beth Thomas owned a construction business and stopped filing federal income taxes in the 1990s.

Prosecutors say they hired American Rights Litigators an organization that promoted tax defiance schemes to send obstructive and harassing materials to the IRS on their behalf.

Federal officials eventually shut down the ARL, and prosecutors say the couple submitted four false tax returns claiming more than $1 million in refunds.

Prosecutors say Timothy Thomas was sentenced to two years in prison and Mary Beth Thomas was sentenced to 10 months.

The two are also ordered to pay more than $506,000 in back taxes.