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Owner of Bakersfield Catholic website convicted of tax evasion

Posted at 7:10 PM, Mar 21, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-21 22:10:52-04

A Fresno jury convicted a Bakersfield man on four counts of tax evasion. 

63-year-old Michael Galloway owns and operates the website, Catholic Online, which generated revenue by selling advertising and hosting to faith-based businesses, according to court documents. 

Galloway improperly deducted personal expenses as business expenses between tax years 2003 and 2006. He deducted personal expenses which included his homeowner's association fee for his personal residence, car payments, insurance, utilities and cable service for his personal residence, tile work, and personal legal fees. 

Galloway was found to have underreported his income between 2003 and 2006 by at least $671,755, which resulted in an additional tax due and him owning over $102,000. 

Galloway is scheduled to be sentenced on June 18th. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison on each count as well as a $100,000 fine.