Former San Luis mayor sentenced to 18 months in prison

The former mayor of San Luis, Ariz. was sentenced to 18 months in prison after admitting to filing fraudulent tax returns.

The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the state of Arizona said Elias Bermudez, 68, of Phoenix, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Diane J. Humetewa and also ordered to pay $131,651 in restitution to the United States.

The office said Bermudez worked as a tax preparer in Arizona for over 20 years and owned a tax preparation and immigration services business called The Help Center (aka El Centro de Ayuda), which prepared approximately 3,000 to 4,000 income tax returns each year between 2007-2010.

Bermudez admitted to filing fraudulent tax returns by including the Additional Child Tax Credit when he knew the credit didn’t apply. His fraudulent tax filings caused a loss to the United States of $131,651.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Andrew C. Stone and Bridget Minder, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Phoenix.

Federal authorities say his clients, at the direction of Bermudez, listed people who lived in Mexico as dependents. They say they recorded Bermudez, while meeting with a confidential informant and two undercover agents, telling agents they should include false dependents on their returns to reduce their tax liability.

Bermudez has previously worked as a talk show host for a Spanish-language radio show in Phoenix and served as a leader of the group Immigrants Without Borders.

He was sentenced to serve 18 months in federal prison in 1996 for a money laundering conviction.

In addition, a county judge in Arizona ordered him to stop offering immigration services after clients alleged they paid for services they never received.

Bermudez moved to New Mexico in 2012 but his business was shut down by the attorney general because he wasn’t authorized to provide immigration consulting services.