A Florida man pleaded guilty yesterday to evading taxes on millions in income that he earned from business ventures that sold internet access to American servicemembers and contractors stationed abroad.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between 2013 and 2018, Joseph Stewart, of Miami, earned more than $4.5 million in dividends from his 50% ownership in a business that sold internet access to American servicemembers and contractors stationed on Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. Between 2013 and 2018, Stewart also earned income from his 50% ownership of a separate business that sold internet access to soldiers stationed on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Despite earning this income, Stewart stopped filing timely tax returns with the IRS once he began receiving significant dividends from his business in 2013.

In April 2016, despite having not filed tax returns or paid taxes since 2013, Stewart filed a false affidavit with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) attaching unfiled copies of federal tax returns while falsely attesting they were filed.

After Stewart received letters from the IRS in 2019, he hired a tax attorney and return preparers and falsely informed them that over $3.8 million in dividends he received between 2013 and 2018 were nontaxable loans. Stewart also falsely stated that he did not know the other shareholders of the business. As a result of these false statements, the tax professionals drafted tax returns for Stewart for 2013 through 2020 that underreported his income and taxes due. Stewart filed these false returns with the IRS, except for a 2013 tax return, which reported that Stewart owed approximately $155,720 in taxes.

In total, Stewart willfully failed to report around $4.62 million in income and caused a total tax loss to the United States of approximately $1.57 million.

Stewart pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion. He is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division and U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Ezra Spiro and Likhitha Butchireddygari of the Criminal Division's Tax Section are prosecuting the case.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division ("Fraud Division"). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department's work to combat fraud supports President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.