Logan attorney pleads guilty to tax charge

CHARLESTON -- A Logan attorney has entered a guilty plea of guilty to tax evasion.

U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II announced Thursday that Thomas A. Zamow, 57, entered a plea of guilty to one count of unlawfully attempting to evade and defeat any tax imposed by Title 26 from Jan. 1, 2006, to Oct. 17, 2007, by underreporting his gross income resulting in tax liabilities (including penalties and interest) in the amount of more than $80,000 but less than $200,000.

Zamow, who is free on bond pending sentencing, faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $100,000. He entered the plea Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Charleston before Judge Thomas E. Johnston.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn A. Morgan and was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division.

The U.S. Attorney General's office requested that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of West Virginia handle the prosecution of Zamow because of the recusal of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.

Zamow is a former Logan County assistant prosecutor and a business partner of Joe C. Ferrell, a former House of Delegates member who pleased guilty in October to federal racketeering and tax charges related to a video lottery machine gambling ring.

Zamow's sentencing is scheduled for March 2 before U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston.