Who: Jodi Hoskins, former owner of “Companions,” a Salt Lake City escort service.

What: Convicted of tax evasion, and recently lost an appeal on a sentencing issue.

How Much: The government claimed to have incurred a tax loss (due to her evasion) of $485,000. Defendant argued that the tax loss was closer to $160,000.

Other Info: Since her sentencing was tied to the tax loss suffered by the government, defendant tried to show that, had she filed her returns, she would have claimed a ton of deductions which would have reduced the tax owed and, therefore, the actual tax loss was much lower. The appeals court rejected this argument, but did not go so far as to say that a tax evader cannot under any circumstances point to hypothetical unclaimed deductions to mitigate charges.

Hoskins failed to report over $1 million in cash receipts during the period in question; it was a fairly clear-cut case of tax evasion. For legitimate forms of tax relief, contact Montgomery & Wetenkamp.