A San Juan Bautista man will begin serving a 30-month prison
sentence the day before most taxpayers file their returns this
year, and was ordered Wednesday to pay more than $1.2 million in
back taxes and interest to the Internal Revenue Service.
San Juan Bautista – A San Juan Bautista man will begin serving a 30-month prison sentence the day before most taxpayers file their returns this year, and was ordered Wednesday to pay more than $1.2 million in back taxes and interest to the Internal Revenue Service.
Demetrious Eugenios, 58, a former Campbell-area divorce attorney and the self-proclaimed “Mr. Divorce,” was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer on Wednesday for willfully attempting to evade the payment of more than $600,000 in income tax and failing to pay taxes for nine years, according to Luke Macaulay, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice.
The IRS began investigating Eugenios after his ex-wife, Willow Eugenios, came forward in 1998 with knowledge of his tax evasion, according to media reports.
A graduate of the University of California at Davis School of Law and 33-year veteran of the bar, Eugenios represented himself at trial last year, Macaulay said.
Of the $613,126 he owed, Eugenios only paid $43,302, Macaulay said. The court determined that, with interest, Eugenios owes more than $1.2 million.
“People who do pay their taxes have to share the additional burden of those who don’t pay,” Macaulay said. “So, in sense, this affects all Americans.”
Eugenios did not return phone calls to his home or office Thursday. However, on his Web site Eugenios recommends that prospective divorcees chose a lawyer based on the quality of their work and not their hourly rates. And he further advises those seeking a divorce to “resist the temptation to do what you know is not right for you and the children just to temporarily satisfy the process.”
The government believes Eugenios lied on his returns and tried to conceal his assets such as interests in several real estate properties and ownership of a Porsche and a Toyota Tundra, Macaulay said. When IRS agents searched his home in 2003, they found more than $42,000 in cash and more than $10,000 in gold and silver coins.
“He concealed his assets so the IRS couldn’t get a hold of them,” Macaulay said, “or put a lien on his property.”
Eugenios resigned from the California State Bar Association in January, after being convicted, and can no longer practice law in the state, according to the association’s Web site.
Criminal prosecution is rare in tax cases, according to San Benito County District Attorney John Sarsfield, a former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney.
“The federal government usually doesn’t like to criminally prosecute people for tax evasion,” he said. “In general, it has to be a fairly blatant case to be prosecuted.”
Sarsfield said that about 95 percent of tax evasion cases are resolved or settled with the IRS, which is quicker and easier for both the taxpayer and the government than going to a criminal trial.
Macaulay said Eugenios has no prior criminal record. Eugenios, who had been facing a maximum of five years in prison, was convicted by a federal jury last June after pleading not guilty. In addition to serving time in prison, he will be placed on probation for three years following his release. Eugenios will begin his sentence on April 14, no pun intended, Macaulay said.
Brett Rowland covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
