BALTIMORE WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO
FILING FALSE STATE TAX RETURNS

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. and Maryland Comptroller of the Treasury William Donald Schaefer jointly announced today that Antoinette Dargan,38,whose last known address is 517 N. Linwood Avenue in Baltimore, was convicted today in the Circuit Court of Anne Arundel County of three counts of tax perjury, in connection with her 1998-2000 state income returns.

Dargan falsified her W-2 withholding tax on her returns and attached fictitious W2s thereby receiving income tax refunds to which she was not entitled. She submitted her 2000 return a second time after her first return was flagged as questionable and both were rejected. During this period of time, she was employed at the local CBS/Viacom affiliate, WJZ-TV.

After pleading guilty, the Honorable Paul A. Hackner sentenced her to one year in jail, before suspending all but two weekends, and three years' probation, with the special condition that she pay restitution to the Comptroller's Compliance Division in the amount of $2,485.33 within 12 months.

The case was referred by the Comproller's Office and prosecuted by the Office of the Attorney General, Criminal Investigations Division.

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