DE scammer gets prison time for tax evasion

[Demosthenes]

Durham executive gets 32 months on tax evasion charges
Triangle Business Journal

A Durham man who pleaded guilty earlier this summer to federal tax evasion charges has been sentenced to 32 months in prison.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in Raleigh said Tuesday that Ronald Cruickshank, 60, was given his sentence Nov. 25 in federal court. Cruickshank also faces three years of supervised release.

The case is connected to a tax evasion scheme run in the Triangle earlier this decade.

That scheme, which operated under the names American Legal Research Institute and American Debt Eliminator, sold illegal tax shelters. Laszlo Horvath and Robert Pelletier, the men who operated the business, also have been convicted on federal tax charges.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Cruickshank – a former advertising executive at Howard, Merrell & Partners in Raleigh and the former CEO of sock manufacturer Thor Lo Inc. – used techniques he learned from Horvath and Pelletier to set up illegal tax shelters. He avoided paying taxes for the 2001, 2003 and 2004 federal tax years by setting up false bank accounts, the U.S. Attorney's office says.

During the course of his prosecution, the U.S. Attorney’s office says, Cruickshank kept using tax evasion services in Florida, Arkansas, Arizona and California. That drove up his sentencing range.

“Our office continues in its commitment to enforce tax laws so that people are not allowed to flout their obligation, thereby putting more burden on law-abiding citizens,” U.S. Attorney George Holding said in a written statement.

[Lambkin]

When I go to prison I hope my name isn't "crook shank" or "shank-a-crook" or any variation thereof.

[LPC]

When I go to prison I hope my name isn't "crook shank" or "shank-a-crook" or any variation thereof.

He could claim it's French and should be pronounced "croo-shahnc." (Cf., Mel Brooks's "Young Frahnkensteen" and W.C. Field's "Albert Souse" (pronounced "soo-say").)

[Arthur Rubin]

When I go to prison I hope my name isn't "crook shank" or "shank-a-crook" or any variation thereof.

Isn't that the name of a cat?