Man gets jail time for lying on taxes

By Sally Voth -- svoth@nvdaily.com

HARRISONBURG -- A Winchester man was ordered in U.S. District Court on Tuesday to spend three months in jail and another three months on house arrest for lying on his taxes.

John Lanzetta appeared before District Judge Michael F. Urbanski, according to online court records.

He will pay a $5,800 fine and restitution still to be determined by the Internal Revenue Service, according to court records.

In July, Lanzetta entered into a plea agreement, pleading guilty to filing a false tax return. A statement of facts filed in the case says he underreported his income in 2007-09 by $259,844.

Lanzetta had asked for the six-month sentence -- half on home confinement -- in a sentencing memorandum filed in December.

The memo says his crime was discovered when a bank that was refinancing his house noticed his income listed on bank forms didn't match what was on his tax returns.

It blames his "hardworking nature and schedule" for the crime. The memo says Lanzetta works at least 60-hour weeks, managing a family business.

Besides working at Pro Audio in Winchester, which his parents own, six days a week, he helps at his parents' restaurants, Giovanni's and Milano's, the memo says.

A father of two, Lanzetta has spent time in prison for federal drug convictions, according to the memo. Federal court records indicate a John Lanzetta was sentenced in 2001 to five years in prison for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana.

The memo describes Lanzetta as the family disciplinarian who brings his children up to be religious and hard-working.

"It is this lifestyle of managing three businesses and family, a day that does not end until the early morning, that contributed to a sloppy accounting of Lanzetta's finances and subsequent misreporting of income," the memo says. "A criminal indifference, not greed, primarily motivated Lanzetta."

In its own sentencing memo, the government asks for the same punishment requested by Lanzetta.