The U.S. District Court in Spokane found Maria E. Townsend of Burbank guilty of tax fraud last week for her electrical contracting business Townsend Controls Inc. in Pasco.

According to court documents, she withheld employment taxes but never passed them on to the IRS. Instead the government believes she bought cars and made monetary gifts to family.

The amount she owes is $2,6 million from April 2007 to September 2009. At her sentencing hearing in June she could face five years in prison plus $250,000 for each of the 10 counts.

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