Delaware County Man Sentenced to 18 Months for Firearms, Tax, and Immigration Crimes

PHILADELPHIA—Sean O’Neill, 49, of Willistown Township, PA, was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for three counts of immigration fraud, one count of illegal possession of a firearm silencer without a serial number, and one count of conspiracy to commit tax fraud, announced United States Attorney Michael L. Levy. O’Neill pleaded guilty to the charges on April 16, 2009, admitting he obtained a “green card,” or lawful permanent residence status, in the United States, by lying about his criminal record, his marriage and his membership in a prohibited organization. In his application for the green card, O’Neill denied having any prior arrests or criminal convictions when, in fact, he had four prior convictions in the United Kingdom including one for membership in the Fianna na h’Eireann, an organization dedicated to the violent overthrow of British rule in Northern Ireland. O’Neill also admitted: that he falsely claimed, during a judicial proceeding, that he was a United States citizen; that he possessed a foreign-manufactured silencer that lacked a serial number; and that he engaged in a more than 10-year conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service of federal taxes. Specifically, O’Neill, who owns a construction company, a restaurant and bar, and a property development business, paid some of his restaurant and bar employees in cash wages in order to avoid paying the required federal payroll taxes to the IRS.

O’Neill was ordered to report to prison on January 5, 2010. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge William H. Yohn, Jr., ordered O’Neill to make restitution to the IRS in the amount of $392,593, and pay a fine in the amount of $60,000, as well as a $500 special assessment. As a result of the conviction, O’Neill also faces a removal proceeding in immigration court. That case is being handled by Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Pennsylvania State Police. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nancy Beam Winter and Alexander T.H. Nguyen.

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