Louisville, Ohio – A 66-year-old business owner from Stark County has been sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison for executing a years-long tax evasion scheme involving multiple companies under her control. Alice F. Martin, of Louisville, who operated a trucking business under the name Martin Logistics, was sentenced on December 2 by U.S. District Judge Donald C. Nugent to 30 months in prison for attempting to avoid paying federal income taxes and penalties.
In addition to her prison sentence, Martin was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and to pay back $1,971,660.86 in restitution to the federal government. She pleaded guilty in August to Attempt to Evade and Defeat Income Tax and Attempt to Evade and Defeat Payment of Tax.
According to court records, Martin orchestrated a layered financial scheme between 2013 and 2018 that enabled her to continue running her trucking business while evading millions in taxes. After Martin Logistics began accumulating significant tax debt, Martin moved to shut the company down—not to exit the trucking industry, but rather to dodge her financial obligations to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Income Hidden Through Shell Companies and Bank Transfers
Martin simply shifted operations to a new company she created, TSA Transportation, and began using yet another business entity, A.F. Martin, to receive the incoming revenue. According to investigators, she deposited approximately $18 million in gross receipts into the A.F. Martin account over several years while deliberately hiding this income from the IRS. Meanwhile, she placed her business assets—such as trucks and trailers—under a separate company she created, Martin Global, as a means to further obscure ownership and financial flows.
Through this shell game of company names and diverted funds, Martin failed to report about $3.6 million in taxable income and did not pay roughly $1.2 million in federal taxes owed during the five-year period under investigation.
IRS-CI Leads Investigation With Successful Prosecution
The IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) division led the inquiry that exposed the full extent of Martin’s misconduct. The unit, which specializes in financial crimes including tax fraud, money laundering, and public corruption, maintains a 90% conviction rate in federal cases. The charges and prosecution in this case were handled by Assistant United States Attorney Edward Brydle of the Northern District of Ohio.
“IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code,” noted the agency in a statement.
Martin’s sentencing marks yet another win for the IRS in its efforts to crack down on complex tax fraud cases and ensure compliance with federal tax laws.
