East St. Louis Precinct Committeeman and Ex-City Council Member Found Guilty of Tax Evasion, Failure to File Income Tax Returns, and Election Fraud

Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on September 23, 2010, MICHAEL V. COLLINS, age 49, who resides in Swansea, Illinois, was found guilty, following a six day trial, of tax evasion for 2003, tax evasion for 2004, tax evasion for 2005, failure to file federal income tax return for 2003, failure to file federal income tax return for 2004, failure to file a federal income tax return for 2005, election fraud for the March 2006 election, and election fraud for the February 2008 election.

The Indictment alleged that MICHAEL V. COLLINS committed tax evasion and attempted to conceal his income by commingling business and personal assets; by failing to provide his correct Social Security Number, by operating a business under an invalid Employer’s Identification Number, through the submission of false certified payrolls which falsely reflected that his employees’ federal income tax withholdings and FICA taxes were withheld and paid in, through the receipt and expenditure of cash, without record keeping, and through the failure to maintain accurate books and records.

The Indictment further alleged that MICHAEL V. COLLINS knowingly and willfully give false information as to his address for the purpose of establishing his eligibility to vote in a voting district in East St. Louis in that he falsely represented that he lived at 22 Loisel in the City of East St. Louis in when in fact he resided at 4382 Red Field Drive, Swansea, Illinois and during that same period of time he was elected to be a precinct committeeman in East St. Louis when he was living in Swansea, Illinois.

Sentencing has been set for January 7, 2011.

The charges were brought following an investigation by the Public Corruption Task Force for the Southern District of Illinois with the Internal Revenue Service/Criminal Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor/Office of Labor Racketeering, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Norman R. Smith.