Finance and Administration Cabinet
Department of Revenue investigation results in grand jury indictments

FRANKFORT, Ky.—Finance and Administration Cabinet Secretary Jonathan Miller and Department of Revenue (DOR) Commissioner Bill Cox today announced that a case presented by DOR’s Special Investigations Division to the Franklin County Grand Jury has resulted in the indictment of Mark D. Sharp of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The indictments sought by the commonwealth against Sharp are for two counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of property and three counts of theft by deception, which involves tax evasion.

These charges are the result of Sharp’s collection of more than $130,000 in sales tax from two personal businesses that he subsequently failed to remit to the DOR as statutorily required. In an effort to resolve this debt, Sharp submitted three deficient checks as payment of delinquent taxes, penalties and interest assessed.

Each of the five counts pending against Sharp is a Class D Felony, which carries a prison sentence of at least one year, but not more than five years.

“Particularly during this time of budget crisis, it is imperative that the commonwealth collect all that it is due,” Miller said. “As state government agencies look to tighten our collective belts, the DOR will pursue the collection of delinquent taxes so we may continue to provide critical state government services to the law-abiding taxpayers of this state.”  

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