A Decherd, Tennessee, man has paid $1.5 million in restitution to the IRS and faces up to three years in federal prison, a fine of up to $100,000 and supervised release for up to one year in a plea agreement reached in federal court in Chattanooga.
A local ranch owner, Ross A. Rinkes, 66, pleaded guilty to filing a false individual income tax return, and his sentencing hearing is set for March 7, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chattanooga. Rinkes entered the guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Charles E. Atchley Jr.
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As required by his plea agreement with the government, Rinkes paid almost $1.5 million in restitution to the IRS, which includes unpaid taxes plus penalties and interest required by law, officials said in the release. As part of the plea agreement filed with the court in October, Rinkes waived a federal indictment and agreed to plead guilty.
Rinkes, the owner of Rinkes Angus Ranch near Decherd, was in the business of purchasing and reselling chicken litter, which is used as fertilizer, and selling crops to grain aggregators, officials said. For 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, Rinkes provided his tax return preparer with false information that led to underreporting of his income for each year.