Marshall J. Johnson of Albuquerque was sentenced Monday to 12 years in prison following his plea to tax-related charges in February, but state District Judge Stephen Pfeffer suspended the prison time and ordered Johnson to spend five years on supervised probation, according to a state Taxation and Revenue Department news release.

Johnson also was ordered to pay $13,455 in restitution to the Taxation and Revenue Department, the release said.

Following an investigation by the department's Tax Fraud Investigations Division, Johnson was indicted in January 2007 on 10 felony counts of False Statement and Fraud in connection with filing New Mexico personal income tax returns between March and October 2004, according to the release.

Johnson also was indicted on 10 counts of using a computer with intent to defraud or embezzle in connection with filing those returns, the release said.

Johnson pleaded guilty in February to five counts each of false statement and fraud and using a computer with intent to defraud or embezzle, according to an earlier Albuquerque Journal report. 

Five of the returns contained Social Security numbers of from Texas who did not earn income in New Mexico and did not know Johnson and included one return with the Social Security number of a man who died in 1997, the release said.

"This sounds like quite a scheme -- a stupid scheme," Pfeffer told Johnson, according to the release. "If you fail to make reasonable restitution payments or violate your probation in any way, you're looking at 12 years in prison."

If Johnson had gone to trial and been convicted, he could have faced up to 17 years in prison and a $50,000 fine, the release said. 

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