Guilty: Tax Evasion of Former Police Officer

Randall Keith Ballard pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion according to an Information filed in the case. He faces up to three years in federal prison and upwards of $250,000 in fines for federal tax evasion. The guilty plea is part of a plea agreement, for which the details were not released.

Ballard came before United States  Magistrate Judge Dennis Green and admitted his 2010 Federal Income Tax Return had not fully reported the approximately $114,000 he’d received in off-duty private security work.  In his 2010 tax return, he had declared only $40,562.00, rather than the actual $155,289.00 he had earned. As it turns out, he not only did not claim all of his income, he had not actually worked all of the hours he had been paid for.

Ballard had allegedly been employed to watch over the daughter of a wealthy man while she attended college, according to the American-Statesman. The find came as part of an investigation into the police department concerning off-duty employment. Ballard left the police department once the investigation began.  The case was investigated by special agents with the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Texas Attorney General’s Office and the Austin Police Department. The sentencing date has not been set at this time.

“There were no policy violations among our current employees that were found requiring formal discipline,” stated Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo.

To see the original article from the Statesman, click here.