A Massachusetts lawyer will serve three years in federal prison for bankruptcy and tax fraud, after being sentenced in federal court yesterday.
The Boston Globe reported that James Gregson received a thirty six month sentence in a case that had its roots in winning lottery tickets. Gregson, who had a law practice in Saugus, purchased two winning tickets from separate lottery players, paying them a flat cash fee for the right to collect their prizes over time.
There is nothing wrong per se with that arrangement, which is actually a common one among lottery winners who would rather have a lump sum of cash now to meet some pressing need. Where the attorney apparently went astray was in his aversion to declaring the arrangement on government forms: according to the prosecutors, he failed to report the income he collected on his 2003 federal tax return, and also failed to report that he owned the tickets when he filed for personal bankruptcy in 2005.
By Doug Beaton