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A Mitchellville man was sentenced Nov. 12 for preparing and filing more than a half-million dollars in false federal tax returns for himself and his clients while he owned a Hyattsville tax preparation business, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland.

Lugard A. Edokpayi, 51, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus to 30 months in jail followed by one year of supervised release for preparing and filing false federal individual tax returns and preparing and presenting false federal tax returns for his clients, totaling more than $500,000, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office.

From 2003 to 2006, while Edokpayi was owner and operator of New Century Tax Services, he filed his clients' income tax returns and falsely reported deductions for education credits, charitable contributions, child and dependent care expenses and unreimbursed business expenses, according to his plea agreement. The total loss from this was more than $137,000.

Edokpayi filed false personal income tax returns from 2003 through 2006, which understated his gross income and cheated the government out of more than $362,000.

One of Edokpayi's attorneys, Richmond Davis, who has an office in Columbia, said the defense was hoping for a lighter sentence. Edokpayi faced 36 months in jail.

"It was a situation that was caused by a man under great stress who used poor judgment and things got out of hand," Davis said.

E-mail Liz Skalski at eskalski@gazette.net.