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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

S.C. Attorney Sentenced for His False Statements

(CN) - A South Carolina attorney was sentenced today to three years of probation, including six months of home confinement, for making false statements to a federal agent.

Shelly Chaplin, an attorney in Columbia, S.C., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Margaret B. Seymour, after admitting to making false statements to federal agents during a drug and firearm investigation.

According to prosecutors, at the time Chaplin was directing his criminal defendant clients to pay his fees in a structured manner to avoid reporting the payments to the IRS. When questioned about this practice, Chaplin to lied about the scheme.

Prosecutors said Chaplin also told an IRS agent that he was not aware of the reporting requirements of IRS's Form 8300, which is a "Report of Cash Payments Over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business" and must be filed with the IRS if a person or business has received over $10,000 in one transaction or a series of related transactions while conducting their trade or business.

Chaplin pleaded guilty to knowingly and willfully making a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement and representation to the government.

In addition to his sentence probation and home confinement, during which time Chaplin will have to wear an electronic monitor, the attorney has also been ordered to pay a $100 assessment fee.

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