CONTRACTOR PLEADS GUILTY TO FILING FALSE TAX RETURN

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that James Stadler, who lives in the 11000 block of Reynolds Road in Kingsville, pled guilty in Baltimore City Circuit Court to filing false Personal Property Tax Returns on behalf of his company Masco Contractors, Incorporated for the years 2002 and 2003. Stadler, 50, was charged with falsely declaring under penalties of perjury that his company had no income in those years when in fact, the corporation was paid $37,715 in 2002 and $27,880 in 2003 by the State of Maryland for construction work at two Maryland State Police weigh station facilities. Stadler was sentenced to 18 months in jail with all 18 months suspended. He was placed on six months unsupervised probation and ordered to pay a $500 fine by Judge Allen Schwait.

All Maryland corporations must, pursuant to Section 11-101 of the Tax-Property Article, file annual personal property tax returns with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation in Baltimore City. Included in such returns is an inquiry as to the corporation’s total gross receipts for the year in question.

The case was referred to the Criminal Investigations Division of the Attorney General’s Office by the Office of the Legislative Auditor.

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