W. Pa. deputy guilty of tax evasion
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A man suspended from his job as a Western Pennsylvania sheriff’s deputy has been convicted of federal tax evasion and faces sentencing May 24.
Sixty-three-year-old Thomas Tuka, of Big Beaver, was convicted by a federal court jury in Pittsburgh.
Prosecutors say he failed to file tax returns and pay taxes on more than $480,000 worth of disability income he received from 2003 to 2008.
Tuka has been suspended from his job as a Beaver County deputy sheriff since he was indicted in 2011.
The jury found Friday that Tuka received the disability pay from US Airways and didn’t pay taxes on it. He also bought a vehicle in 2003 and titled it in the name of a trust to avoid taxes.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether his conviction has changed his job status.