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by Mike Caswell

New York stock tout Christopher Wheeler has received 10 months in jail and a $7,500 fine on charges of failing to file income taxes. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) He received his sentence in an appearance before New York District Judge David Larimer on Nov. 18, 2014. The judge allowed him to remain out of custody until Jan. 2, 2015, when he must report to a jail designated by the Bureau of Prisons.

Prosecutors claimed that Mr. Wheeler, who ran the OTCStockExchange.com touting site, did not file his taxes for three years in which he had gross income of $11.95-million. During that same period he made $2.6-million in a pump-and-dump of four stocks, with most of the money coming from touting two Canadian pink sheets listings, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A judge recently imposed $6.7-million in civil sanctions on him for that scheme.

The tax case arose on April 14, 2014, with prosecutors claiming he failed to file returns for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009. Mr. Wheeler initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, but later reached a plea agreement with the government. As part of that agreement, prosecutors agreed to recommend a reduced sentence in recognition of the time the government and courts saved by not holding a trial. The judge sentenced Mr. Wheeler to 10 months on each of three counts that he faced, with the sentences to run concurrently. He must also serve one year of supervised release.

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