Bath Man Hit With Jail Sentence and $400K Fine for Tax Evasion

On Feb. 21, John W. Hufgard was sentenced to 18 months in jail and fined $400,000 after pleading guilty to three counts of tax evasion in a federal court in November.

Hufgard, 59, of Bath, was also sentenced to two years of supervised release by US District Judge Patricia A. Gaughan, according to Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

Hufgard, the sole proprietor of Universal Service and Repair Ltd., sold manufacturing racks to scrap metal dealers, but failed to report the proceeds on his federal income tax returns in 2007 through 2009, Dettelbach said.

Hufgard sold racks for cash, diverted business income into his personal account and falsely recorded business income as short term loans from himself, according to court documents.

Hufgard also tried to conceal the scheme by moving large amounts of scrapped metal racks long distances to dealers who were willing to pay in cash rather than checks.

Over the three-year period, he reportedly evaded $397,659 in federal income taxes.