Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced a Montgomery County business owner surrendered on Friday to law enforcement after pleading guilty to evading more than $40,000 in sales tax payments to the state. 50 year-old Long Clayton of Hillsboro, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Circuit Court to one count of sales tax evasion and one count of aggravated identity theft, both of which are Class 2 felonies. He was sentenced in three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections and agreed to pay restitution of some $44,000 to the Illinois Department of Revenue as well as some $2,000 to Ameren Illinois.
As the owner of the Cozy Café at 633 South Main Street in Hillsboro, Clayton allegedly convinced current and former employees to register the café under their names in order to use their Illinois business tax numbers to report sales in an attempt to evade paying more than $40,000 in taxes. Clayton fraudulently used those business tax numbers due to his own business tax number being revoked by IDOR for delinquency in paying previous taxes. Clayton also allegedly fraudulently used a Social Security number of a former employee with a developmental disability to open a utility account through Ameren Illinois.
The case was investigated by IDOR’s Criminal Investigations Division and referred to Madigan’s office for prosecution. Assistant Attorney General Gregory Stucka handled the case for Madigan’s Special Prosecutions Bureau.
