Man gets prison time for book vendor scheme

CEDAR RAPIDS - A New Hampshire man was sentenced to a year in federal prison Thursday for his part in a book vendor scheme with the former bookstore director at Clarke University in Dubuque.

U.S. District Chief Judge Linda Reade sentenced Thomas DeFelice, 37, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to file false tax returns in March, to one year in prison. She ordered him to pay all taxes and penalties owed in connection with the false tax returns.

He also must serve a three-year term of supervised release following his prison time.

According to the superseding information, DeFelice and former bookstore director, James Spaulding, 35, now of Longmont, Colo.,

formed a fictitious New Hampshire corporation, RVP Wholesale Books, in 2011. Spaulding was in charge of ordering textbooks and other books for the student bookstore, and he would submit invoices to the college for payment to book suppliers.

Spaulding, who earlier was sentenced to four years in prison, created and submitted fake invoices from RVP to Clarke. The college paid $300,000 for books that never were delivered, according to court documents.

During the plea hearing, DeFelice admitted to conspiring with Spaulding to file false tax returns in 2012 and 2013 as a result of the RVP sales.

RVP reported $21,044 in taxable income for 2011 and reported a loss of $9,363 for 2012, according to the plea agreement.

There were no real costs of books sold or any other legitimate deductions.

On their personal tax returns, DeFelice and Spaulding reported taxable partnership income from RVP of $10,522 for 2011 and a

loss of $4,681 in 2012, according to the plea agreement. Their actual taxable income in 2011 and 2012 would have resulted in

tax due of over $84,000.