Convicted Tax Preparer Stumbles in Evidence Admittance Challenge

The owner of a shuttered tax return preparation business failed to show that the admittance of his own fraudulent returns into evidence at his criminal trial was improper, the Third Circuit said Friday.

Guibbonz Marcellus was sentenced to 27 months in prison for aiding and assisting false tax return preparation after being convicted by a jury in July 2023. He argued that he didn’t know the returns were fraudulent and was only relying on information provided by his customer. The Pennsylvania federal court that held his trial properly admitted Marcellus’ own fraudulent returns into evidence at the government’s request because ...