A Utah man, Paul Kenneth Cromar, was sentenced Monday to six years in prison for tax evasion and illegally retaking property seized to cover his unpaid taxes, according to authorities.
From 1999 to 2005, Cromar, a former Cedar Hills resident and owner of Blue Moon Productions LLC, failed to file federal income tax returns or pay taxes, officials stated.
A 2005 IRS audit revealed he owed $703,266.96, including interest and penalties. Over the next decade, Cromar neither paid his tax debt nor cooperated with the IRS, instead obstructing their collection efforts.
In 2019, a federal judge ordered the sale of Cromar’s home to cover his tax debt, which had grown to over $1 million. Cromar responded by filing false documents, including a fake promissory note, to block the sale.
He also harassed potential buyers and IRS officials, filing frivolous lawsuits to intimidate them.
Before the sale was finalized, Cromar forcibly reoccupied the house, fortified it with firearms, sandbags, and barricades, and remained there illegally for five months.
U.S. District Judge Howard C. Nielson Jr. sentenced Cromar to three years of supervised release following his prison term and ordered him to pay $723,028.65 in restitution.
The case was jointly investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), and the FBI, which helped locate Cromar after he became a fugitive in a related Utah state case.
Prosecutors from the Justice Department’s Tax Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah handled the case.