A Utah dentist will have to pay about $165,000 or face prison time and additional charges for failing to file tax returns and evading paying taxes over a five-year period.
Benjamin Lee Gilstrap, DDS, 59, was found guilty of one second-degree count of racketeering and two third-degree felony count of tax evasion and attempted tax evasion.
Dr. Gilstrap resides in South Jordan but operates a dental office in Sandy. He avoided paying taxes by comingling his business and personal expenses, failing to file returns, and refusing to resolve his case with the Utah Tax Commission, according to the state attorney general's office.
Investigators discovered Dr. Gilstrap did not pay taxes during a five-year period when he earned nearly $1.5 million:
2003 -- $304,949
2004 -- $355,625
2005 -- $252,019
2006 -- $291,891
2007 -- $254,208
Total -- $1,458,692
On September 19, Third District Judge William Barrett suspended Dr. Gilstrap's sentence of up to five years in prison but ordered him to provide complete records for restitution, spend 50 days of home confinement with electronic monitoring, serve 350 hours of community service, and serve six years of probation.
Dr. Gilsrap will face additional racketeering charges if he does not comply with all the conditions of his probation.
