Annandale Plumber Sentenced to 36 Months for Tax Evasion

Richard Jaensch, a 54-year-old self-employed plumber from Annandale, was sentenced to 36 months in prison on Friday for failing to file personal income tax returns from 2004 to 2007.

Jaensch was by a federal jury in Alexandria for four counts of failing to file tax returns, one count of corruptly endeavoring to impede the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and one count of filing a false claim for a refund. He faced a maximum prison sentence of 12 years.

The sentencing closes out an almost two-year-old case. Jaensch was indicted in March of 2011.

According to a press release from the United States Department of Justice, Jaensch filed a "false 2008 tax return claiming a $774,052 refund" and "obstructed and impeded the IRS by, among other acts: filing numerous documents and pleadings in Fairfax County, Va., claiming that he and his wife, a federal employee, were not persons required to file federal income tax returns; that his wife was not a party to the 'Constitution of the United States of America' and that she was not a taxpayer; and providing false information to the IRS."

Jaensch allegedly convinced his wife, Janet Jaensch, to not file a personal tax return and to ask the Navy to stop withholding federal income taxes from her salary. At the time, Janet was an active "high-level civilian employee" with the Navy.

She was sentenced on Dec. 13, 2011 to three years’ probation after pleading guilty to willfully failing to file a tax return, according to the press release. She was also ordered to pay $137,000 in restitution to the IRS.