Dubois couple sentenced in federal court to home confinement for tax fraud

CASPER, Wyo. — A Dubois business-owner couple were sentenced on Wednesday for conspiracy to defraud the United States by underreporting gross income and filing a false tax return, according to a press release from the Wyoming US Attorney’s Office and federal court records.

Tammy Bushnell, 59, and Scott Bushnell, 64, will spend eight months of home confinement followed by three years of probation to run concurrently for the two counts in the criminal information document, according to the sentence handed down by Chief Wyoming US District Court Judge Scott Skavdahl.

“Scott and Tammy Bushnell had many chances to correctly report their income; However, they instead used a variety of tactics to conceal income and falsify business expenses,” said Tom Demeo, special agent with the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Denver Field Office.

“Tax evasion will continue to be a priority for IRS-CI and we will aggressively pursue those who do not comply with their income tax obligations,” Demeo said in the press release.

According to court documents, the Bushnells owned and operated Trails End Guns and Trails End Motel in Dubois.

During the 2017 through 2021 tax years, the Bushnells failed to provide all their gross receipts to their Certified Public Accountant and inflated some expenses, understating their tax liability for those years.

The investigation began in 2021 when the couple listed the motel for sale.

Undercover agents posed as potential buyers. The Bushnells provided the agents with financial statements that reflected substantially more receipts and profits for both businesses than what was reported on their tax returns.

On April 29, 2024, the prosecution filed the criminal information document against Tammy Bushnell that listed two counts: Conspiracy to defraud the United States, punishable by up to five years imprisonment and up to a $250,000 fine; and filing a false return, punishable by up to three years imprisonment and up to a $100,000 fine.

On June 24, 2024, the prosecution filed the criminal information document against Scott Bushnell with the same two counts.

The first count of the document alleged the Bushnells also committed other actions to perpetrate the fraud:

• Routine destruction of business documents that would show the true cash receipts.
• Routine purchase of money orders with cash from business operations to hide reportable income.
• Bartering of goods and services.

The second count alleged that in their 2021 IRS Form 1040 they reported $288,567 income, but they knew they received at least $559,026 in total income.

On May 16 and July 10 respectively, Tammy Bushnell and Scott Bushnell waived the indictment and pleaded guilty to the criminal information document.

In addition to the home confinement, Skavdahl ordered the defendants to pay $122,112.46 in restitution to the IRS and $57,882 to the State of Wyoming.

The judge also fined them $13,161 and levied a $200 special assessment.

This crime was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.

US Attorney Margaret Vierbuchen prosecuted the case.

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