Joseph Stewart, a Miami resident, pleaded guilty July 20 to one count of tax evasion after initially facing seven tax-evasion counts and seven false-return counts.
Prosecutors said Stewart failed to report about $4.62 million in income from 2013 to 2018, including more than $4.5 million in dividends from a company selling internet access at Kandahar Airfield.
The DOJ said he also earned income from a separate internet business serving troops at Guantanamo Bay and stopped filing timely IRS returns once large dividends began in 2013.
After IRS letters arrived in 2019, Stewart allegedly told tax professionals that more than $3.8 million in dividends were nontaxable loans, leading them to prepare false returns.
Federal authorities say the scheme caused a $1.57 million tax loss; Stewart faces up to five years in prison, plus probation, fines and restitution, with sentencing set for Nov. 9.