Toms River Attorney Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion

Federal prosecutors say a southern New Jersey attorney who already owed money to the IRS has admitted evading income taxes by hiding assets in an attorney trust account in his wife's name.

Lee Gottesman pleaded guilty Tuesday to a complaint charging him with federal income tax evasion and failing to pay payroll taxes for the employees of his Toms River-based law firm. The 57-year-old Toms River man faces up to 10 years in prison when he's sentenced Aug. 21.

Prosecutors say the IRS filed a levy on Gottesman's assets in 2002 due to unpaid taxes. He then opened a sub-account in his wife's name and ran nearly all of his personal and business expenses through the account.

But he never paid personal income taxes on the hidden income.

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