Ex-Madison School District Board President Charged With Tax Evasion

(CBS DETROIT) -- Federal officials say the former president of the Madison District Public Schools board is charged after failing to report more than $500,000 in income from a school district contractor.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Albert Morrison is charged with four counts of federal income tax evasion and four counts of failing to file federal tax returns.

Morrison served as board president from 2012 through 2018.

According to the indictment, Morrison's longtime friend owned a building maintenance and reconstruction company that was routinely awarded maintenance and construction projects in the school district. From 2014 through 2018, the friend wrote checks to Morrison's company, Comfort Consulting, giving at least $561,667 in payments.

Officials say Morrison did not declare to IRS that the payments as income in 2014 through 2018 and instead deposited the money in his own bank account and used the funds for personal expenditures. He also did not file a federal income tax return from 2015 to 2018 and avoided paying more than $118,000.

If convicted, Morrison faces a maximum of five years in prison for each count of tax evasion and one year in prison for each count of failure to file tax returns. A federal judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

© 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.