The founding father of an Oregon-based brokerage agency will spend greater than 4 years in jail after he was discovered responsible of tax evasion, in line with the Division of Justice.

James W. Millegan was sentenced this week to 51 months in jail, and was ordered to pay greater than $2.5 million to the Inside Income Service, in addition to greater than $1.4 million to 12 shoppers. A jury discovered Millegan responsible of tax evasion after a trial final yr.

“It’s been mentioned that the distinction between tax avoidance and tax evasion … is the thickness of a jail wall,” mentioned Bret Kressin, particular agent in control of the IRS Felony Investigation Seattle Discipline Workplace. “Mr. Millegan is studying that firsthand.”

The McMinnville, Ore.–based mostly Millegan based J.W. Millegan Inc. in 1996 after prior stints with Lehman Brothers and Ragen Mackenzie, in line with his BrokerCheck profile. He primarily served shoppers within the Portland and Salem, Ore. areas. 

In 2009, Millegan began to keep away from paying revenue taxes; the dealer would submit correct returns, with annual revenue that exceeded $1 million, and would precisely present what he owed, ranging as excessive as $350,000, however then didn’t pay the quantity, in line with the DOJ. To evade the IRS, Millegan would put his revenue in quite a few financial institution accounts, together with $1.4 million in his deceased mom’s belief account.

Private assistants to Millegan described him as a “prolific spender,” together with buying a $4.5 million residence in Portland and a $1.3 million seashore home. He confirmed twin pursuits in horses and classic vehicles; along with buying stabling and driving classes, Millegan invested in Wallace Bridge, an equestrian competitors heart in Oregon.

The dealer additionally purchased a number of Rolls-Royce and Bentley vehicles for private use. In 2003, he purchased a 1938 Rolls-Royce Phantom III and spent $800,000 restoring the auto, together with transport it to a specialist in the UK. He then confirmed it off at automobile exhibits within the U.S. and Europe throughout the subsequent a number of years, in line with the Justice Division.

In 2016, Monetary Trade Regulatory Authority arbitrators dominated he’d churned funding accounts for a number of shoppers and fined him $450,000, with Millegan submitting for chapter and shutting the agency quickly after.

After a two-week jury trial in Oregon federal court docket final November, Millegan was discovered responsible of 1 rely of tax evasion; he’d been individually charged with wire fraud, however these fees had been dismissed at his sentencing.