Owner of Marijuana dispensary guilty of tax evasion
A former owner of a Warren marijuana dispensary faces at least nine years in federal prison for tax evasion and obstructing the IRS, officials said.
Ryan Richmond, 46, of Bloomfield Hills, was found guilty by a federal court jury, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement Monday.
Richmond owned and operated Relief Choices, LLC in Warren, according to the release.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart Goldberg with the Department’s Tax Division said the dispensary paid its operating expenses in cash and routed customer credit card payments through an unrelated third-party bank account between 2011 and 2014 to conceal the business' gross receipts.
He also said that in 2015 and 2016, Richmond misled IRS investigators, especially one reviewing his individual income tax return, regarding what he knew about the business operation.
According to IRS estimates, his actions resulted in a more than $1 million loss in tax revenue.
A federal grand jury in Detroit indicted Richmond in March 2021.
Richmond is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 13.
He faces five years in prison for each count of tax evasion, three years in prison for obstructing the IRS and one year in prison for the willful failure to file a tax return.
He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and fines.
