Miss. state representative pleads guilty to 2018 tax crime

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - A Mississippi state representative pled guilty to willfully making a false statement on a federal income tax return.

According to the Southern District of Mississippi of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Earle S. Banks, Sr., 68, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court in Jackson on Wednesday.

Banks failed to report more than $500,000 of income resulting from the sale of real property and has admitted that he was aware of his legal duty to report that income. Instead, he willfully failed to report that income to the IRS on a 2018 Form 1040X tax return.

The state representative will be sentenced on August 21, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison.

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