A Stoneham businessman was recently sentenced in connection with under-reporting more than $800,000 in gross receipts.

Robert Sinclair, owner of Sinclair Trucking, was sentenced to two years of probation, the first six months of which will be served as in-home confinement. Sinclair was also ordered to perform 250 hours of community service and he agreed to pay the tax loss of $239,446 plus interest in penalties to the IRS. In May 2016, he pleaded guilty to attempting to evade taxes.

During audits of his tax returns in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009, IRS agents questioned Sinclair about discrepancies between the amounts he reported on his tax returns and the amounts he deposited into his business bank account. Sinclair falsely told the agents that the discrepancies were due to cash loans from a relative, when instead all of the deposits into the business bank account during these tax years were checks from customers. As a result, Sinclair evaded $239,446 in taxes.