Turlock business owner sentenced for tax fraud, structured cash transactions

A 34-year-old Turlock business owner was sentenced Monday to three years and one month in federal prison for structuring cash transactions and filing false tax returns, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento reported.

U.S. District Judge Dale Drozd also ordered defendant Branden Adam Eidson to pay $433,205 in restitution.

Eidson operated the hydroponics equipment and supply business called Hooked Up Hydroponics. Federal prosecutors said Eidson filed false federal income tax returns from 2008 through 2010 by under-reporting about $1,244,365 in gross receipts for his business, resulting in a loss of more than $430,000 in tax revenue.

The defendant also made multiple cash deposits of $10,000 or less in an attempt to prevent his bank from filing Currency Transaction Reports, according to the prosecutors. Eidson made structured cash deposits of more than $1.5 million.

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 1:34 PM with the headline "Turlock business owner sentenced for tax fraud, structured cash transactions."