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2001 Allianz Champion faces tax charges.

February 12, 2009

Jim Thorpe faces a penalty much more severe than a loss of a stroke.

The winner of the inaugural Allianz Championship in West Des Moines (now the Principal Charity Classic) is charged with four counts of failure to file returns and three counts of failure to pay taxes on $5.2 million of income from 2002, 2003 and 2004.

It appears that Mr. Thorpe's attorney is already preparing a Geithner defense:

Thorpe's attorney, Mark Horwitz, said his client plans to plead not guilty.
"We look forward to having a trial," Horwitz said this afternoon. "We don't think he's willfully violated the law. That's not to say he doesn't owe the tax; but we don't think he's guilty of a crime."

Horwitz called the facts outlined in the charges "the government's spin."

"I think the timing of it is sort of interesting in the sense of what we've just seen coming out of Washington with a Cabinet secretary and some other Cabinet-level appointees," he said, referring to the tax troubles of some of President Obama's nominees.

The maximum penalty for the charges would be seven years in prison and fines of $3.2 million; federal sentencing guidelines would call for a 41-51month sentence for a tax loss that size, not taking into account aggravating or mitigating circumstances.

The TaxProf has a roundup, and Peter Pappas has more.

Tags: Geithner.Jim Thorpe.tax crime.