Former Country Club Hills Police Chief, Regina Evans, Charged with Hiding Business Income and $500,000 from State Grant in False Tax Returns

Regina Evans and her husband, Ronald Evans, the former police chief and the former inspector general, respectively, of suburban Country Club Hills, were each charged today with three counts of filing false federal income tax returns for allegedly failing to report all of their income during calendar years 2007-09. They were charged in a felony information filed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Regina Evans’ attorney has authorized the government to disclose that she will be pleading guilty to the tax charges after the government files a request to transfer the case against her to the Central District of Illinois in Springfield for disposition. Regina Evans, 50, who was Country Club Hills police chief from 2009 to 2011, and Ronald Evans, 46, are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Springfield on June 18.

The defendants were charged with failing to report all of their income in 2009, when they allegedly converted to personal income more than $500,000 of a $1.25 million state grant. They also allegedly failed to report all of their income in 2007, 2008, and 2009 from Prime Time Limousine, a Chicago transportation and security services company that they jointly owned and operated.

According to the charging document, Regina Evans founded and ran an organization called We Are Our Brother’s Keeper that, in 2009, received a $1.25 million employment opportunities grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to provide pre-apprenticeship educational and vocational training for people employed in building trades, such as bricklayers and electricians. The couple allegedly used more than $500,000 for non-grant-related personal purposes, making that money personal income.

On their federal income tax return for 2009, the couple stated that Prime Time’s gross receipts were approximately $150,000, knowing that its gross receipts totaled more than $201,297. They also allegedly stated that they did not have any other income, knowing that they had converted at least $500,000 in grant money.

In 2007, the defendants allegedly filed a false tax return by reporting Prime Time’s gross receipts were approximately $205,290, when the business actually had gross receipts totaling more than $360,649, and they allegedly filed a false 2008 tax return stating Prime Time’s gross receipts were approximately $150,630, when it actually had gross receipts of more than $291,414.

The charges were announced today by Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and James C. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago. The Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation participated in the investigation.

Filing a false federal income tax return carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. In addition, a defendant convicted of tax offenses faces mandatory costs of prosecution and remains civilly liable to the government for any and all back taxes, as well as a potential civil fraud penalty of up to 75 percent of the underpayment plus interest. If convicted, the court must determine a reasonable sentence to be imposed under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Hammerman.

The public is reminded that an information contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.