A former Reed Smith tax partner faces a year in prison for federal tax evasion under a guilty plea announced Friday by the San Francisco U.S. attorney’s office.
James Kleier was charged in May 2013 with failing to file federal returns for the 2008, 2009 and 2010 tax years despite earning more than $1.3 million in income during that time. As part of a plea agreement filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Kleier pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of “willfully failing” to file his taxes in 2008. Terms of the deal call for Kleier to serve one year in prison and to pay restitution totaling $650,993.
