A onetime dentist from southeastern Minnesota has been convicted of dodging taxes while practicing dentistry in western Wisconsin, building up a bill owed to the IRS that tops $450,000.
U.S. District Court jurors took two hours Tuesday to find Frederick Kriemelmeyer, 70, who practiced in La Crosse, guilty of four counts of tax evasion.
Kriemelmeyer, of Spring Grove, Minn., was ordered in 2007 by a federal court to pay $135,337 to the IRS for unpaid income taxes. By 2012, the IRS had assessed Kriemelmeyer for more than $450,000 in taxes, interest, and penalties.
"We respect the jury's verdict," said defense attorney Joseph A. Bugni, who declined to comment further.
Prosecutors alleged during his trial in Madison that Kriemelmeyer schemed in various ways from 2013 to 2015 to pay up, including not filing tax returns reporting his now-closed practice's income, insisting that patients pay him in cash or by check with blank payee lines, and paying his business and personal expenses with third-party checks and cash.
Court records show tax claims filed against Kriemelmeyer dating back to the 1990s.
Sentencing for Kriemelmeyer is scheduled for May 19, when he could receive four years in prison for each count, as well as years on supervised release, and be made to pay restitution and various fines and fees.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
