A Freeland tax preparation business owner was sentenced Friday to 2 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Leidi M. Paulino, 46, owner of LP Multiservices was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Julia K. Munley.

Paulino aided and assisted in the filing of false tax returns claiming hundreds of thousands of dollars in unearned education credits.

According to U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam, over the course of 2019 and 2020, Paulino assisted hundreds of clients in preparing and filing false tax returns that were materially false in that they sought on the clients’ behalf certain education tax credits, including the American opportunity tax credit, to which the clients were not entitled.

The vast majority of Paulino’s clients were not enrolled in college at all. Paulino’s conduct resulted in hundreds of thousand dollars of loss to the government.

At her sentencing, Paulino was ordered to pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the amount of $888,377.

After her jail term, Paulino will have a one-year term of supervised release.