A Chicago lawyer and accountant labeled by the government as history's most prolific and unrepentant tax cheat has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Wilmette, Illinois, resident Paul M. Daugerdas was sentenced Wednesday in New York by a federal judge.
Daugerdas was convicted last year by a Manhattan jury of conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud.
Prosecutors say he was the mastermind in a case called the largest tax fraud prosecution in U.S. history.
Local
Daugerdas is a former head of the Chicago office of the Jenkens & Gilchrist law firm. He was convicted of helping to create tax shelters that benefited some of the world's wealthiest people. Prosecutors say he paid $8,000 in taxes when he owed $32 million.
Prosecutors sought 20 years in prison. Defense lawyers urged leniency.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
