RI man hid income earned through shop from IRS
A federal judge sentenced a Rhode Island man to more than two years in prison Wednesday for tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Chief Judge Mary Lisi of the District Court of Rhode Island also ordered Bruce Lapierre, of Pascoag, to pay $463,988 in restitution. Lapierre will begin serving his sentence Oct. 28.
Lapierre and two co-defendants were found guilty of conspiracy and two counts each of tax evasion last March. Prosecutors in the eight-day trial proved that Lapierre and Albert Martin hid substantial income from the IRS they earned through Classic Machine, a shop in Woonsocket the two owned and operated.
From 1997 to 2004, the defendants took part in an elaborate scheme to avoid paying taxes on that income. Rather than open business accounts for depositing business receipts and income, they used Lorraine Martin’s personal account to conceal business receipts, as well as an anonymous “private” banking service designed to conceal income from the IRS.
To further hide their assets and income from the IRS, Lapierre and his co-conspirators also used multiple business names, such as Banner Technologies, Circle Machine, Preferred Enterprises and Royal Enterprises, to conduct the machine shop business. They also made extensive use of cash and money orders.
In one case, they cashed checks under $10,000 in order to avoid having to file federal reports, which are required for currency transactions of $10,000 or more. Lapierre tried to thwart an IRS investigation of the shop’s income by renaming business assets, sending false and frivolous letters to the IRS claiming he was not required to file tax returns or pay taxes, and by directing a financial institution not to comply with an IRS summons for records.
Sentencing for Albert and Lorraine Martin is scheduled for Nov. 18. Each defendant faces a maximum of fifteen years in prison and a maximum fine of $750,000.
















