ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 10, 1996 TAG: 9609100099
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
A tax evasion conviction won't add any prison time for a Covington businessman serving 14 years for a cocaine deal, but it will lighten his wallet.
Victor Cucci was sentenced to nine months in prison, but the time is concurrent with his sentence for setting up a cocaine deal for a friend, who was a government informant.
Cucci's wife, Janet, was given two years' probation after she pleaded guilty to failing to file tax returns in 1986 and 1987.
U.S. District Judge James Turk also fined her $1,500.
The sentencing Monday concluded a years-long probe into the couple's business dealings.
The government dropped nine charges against them in exchange for their guilty pleas.
As part of the plea agreement, Victor Cucci agreed to pay back taxes.
Janet Cucci's attorney argued that she does not owe any money, although negotiations with the government continue.
Victor Cucci admitted that he failed to report $116,000 of income over a four-year period in the 1980s, although the prosecutor said the IRS thinks it's closer to $273,000.
He did not file returns for those years.
The Covington businessman was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 1992 for setting up a cocaine deal for two friends. That charge was the result of a government sting, and one of his friends turned out to be an informant.
Last year, Turk ruled that evidence seized - including bank records - could not be used in the tax-evasion case because a search conducted after Cucci's drug arrest was illegal.
But the government was able to use the bank records as evidence after convincing Turk that investigators would have gotten them anyway by subpoenaing the banks.
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