Crime

Former Basehor, Kan., business owner sentenced for $856,000 tax fraud

Elizabeth Lucero, 53, of Basehor, Kan., was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to pay restitution for failing to pay more than $856,000 in payroll taxes.
Elizabeth Lucero, 53, of Basehor, Kan., was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to pay restitution for failing to pay more than $856,000 in payroll taxes.

The former owner of a Basehor, Kan., business was sentenced Tuesday to a year in prison for failing to pay more than $850,000 in payroll taxes.

Elizabeth Lucero, 53, of Basehor, was ordered to pay $856,784 in restitution as part of Tuesday’s sentencing in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan.

Lucero owned Sunshine Home Health Care Center in Basehor. From 2007 to 2011, she withheld taxes from employee paychecks, but failed to turn the money over to the federal government.

During that time, company funds were used to pay Lucero’s personal expenses, including money spent on gambling and a $50,000 Cadillac Escalade, according to federal prosecutors.

Tony Rizzo: 816-234-4435, @trizzkc

This story was originally published December 13, 2016 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Former Basehor, Kan., business owner sentenced for $856,000 tax fraud."

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