A former Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation has been charged with filing false tax returns.
James J. Kerasiotes, 60, of Wrentham, was charged with filing false personal income tax returns for the years 2010 and 2011.
According to United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz's office:
"Kerasiotes was a self-employed consultant providing strategy and business origination services to clients in the transportation and construction industries. For the calendar years 2010 and 2011, Kerasiotes filed Forms 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns, with the IRS reflecting only a portion of the income he earned from his consulting business during those years.
"By underreporting his total business income for 2010 and 2011, Kerasiotes evaded the payment of income taxes to the IRS. The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than three years in prison, one year of supervised release, and a fine of $100,000.
"Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors."
Kerasiotes was director of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and project manager of the Big Dig in the 1990s.
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