Lawyer sentenced to 20 months in prison in tax fraud case

A federal judge sentenced Honolulu personal injury lawyer Andrew Agard to 20 months in prison Tuesday for tax fraud.

Agard pleaded guilty last year to lying about his income on his 2006 income tax return. He reported his gross income for that year was $294,162 when in fact he had earned about $630,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Osborne Jr. said up until the time Agard was caught for tax fraud, he had been advertising himself as a specialist in tax law.

Agard has until Dec. 3 to surrender to begin serving his prison term.

U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi also fined him $2,500 and ordered him pay the Internal Revenue Service $61,180 in restitution and perform 100 hours of community service.

Defense lawyer Michael Green said Agard has sold his second home and paid his taxes for 2005, 2006 and 2007. In sentencing Agard, Green asked the judge to disregard Agard’s underreporting his income for 2002, 2003 and 2004 because there is no evidence that he did so with criminal intent.

Agard told Kobayashi he offers no excuses, takes full responsibility and accepts all consequences for his actions. He said he has turned over his law practice to his brother and has been volunteering his time to talk to new lawyers and those attending professional development training to emphasize the importance of the tax side of their profession.