A Pottawattamie County man was sentenced Thursday to jail time and fined, for filing a false tax return. Chief U-S District Court Judge John A. Jarvey sentenced 62-year old Craig A. Tripp, of Avoca, to three months imprisonment and fined him $15,000 for filing a false 2009 tax return. In addition, Tripp was ordered to serve one year of supervised release following his prison term. According to the plea agreement, Tripp agreed to pay his tax liability, in an amount to be determined by the Internal Revenue Service.

At the sentencing hearing, Chief Judge Jarvey found Tripp failed to provide for an accurate accounting of his profits derived from the sale of beer and other items from his business, the Blue Moon Bar and Grill in Avoca, Iowa. Chief Judge Jarvey also found Tripp had failed to report business profits on his 2007, 2008, and 2010 federal tax returns.

The matter was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations and prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

(12-p.m. news)