A Montgomery County business owner surrendered to law enforcement on Friday after pleading guilty to evading more than $40,000 in sales tax payments to the state. According to a press release from Attorney General Lisa Madigan's Office, 50-year-old Long Clayton of Hillsboro pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Circuit Court to one count of sales tax evasion and one count of aggravated identity theft, both Class 2 felonies. Clayton was sentenced to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections and agreed to pay restitution of $44,934.68 to the Illinois Department of Revenue. He will also pay $2,030.11 to Ameren Illinois. As the owner of the Cozy Cafe in Hillsboro, Clayton convinced current and former employees to register the cafe under their names in order to use their business tax numbers to report sales in an attempt to evade paying more than $40,000 in taxes. Clayton fraudulently used those business tax numbers due to his own business tax number being revoked by IDOR for delinquency in paying previous taxes. Clayton also fraudulently used a Social Security number of a former employee with a developmental disability to open a utility account through Ameren Illinois.

"Individuals who defraud our tax system and commit acts of forgery must be held accountable," said Revenue Director Connie Beard . "I applaud the efforts of Revenue's Criminal Investigation Division, as well as the Attorney General's Office in this case. My office will continue to work with the Attorney General to ensure that lawbreakers are held accountable and that full restitution is paid on behalf of taxpayers."

The case was investigated by IDOR's Criminal Investigations Division and referred to Madigan's office for prosecution. Assistant Attorney General Gregory Stucka handled the case for Madigan's Special Prosecutions Bureau.Thomack 2/29/16