Psychiatrist Patricia Hough gets two years prison for tax evasion

May 12, 2014

Dr. Patricia Hough, 67, also must repay more than $15 million to the IRS, a judge ruled.

Hough bowed her head and leaned on a podium as Judge John Steele read her sentence in a Fort Myers federal courtroom Friday morning.

"I realize Dr. Hough is 67 years old," the judge said before reading Hough's sentence. "The problem, unfortunately, is that you're not the oldest person I've sentenced, and you're not the oldest physician I've sentenced."

Her attorney said he plans to appeal the sentencing.

Government prosecutors alleged that Hough and her now-fugitive husband, Dr. David Leon Fredrick, worked in concert to hide millions of dollars from the IRS in foreign bank accounts.

A grand jury indicted the couple in May 2013.

David Leon Frederick vanished after the indictment and was declared a fugitive in July, leaving Patricia Hough to face trial alone. She was convicted in October 2013 and resigned from her job as a psychiatrist with the Sarasota County Health Department.

The case against Hough and Fredrick stemmed from an investigation of the Swiss bank UBS AG, according to the Internal Revenue Service. Hough and Fredrick had an account with UBS.

Prosecutors contended the money she failed to report to the IRS came from two medical schools in the Caribbean — Medical University of the Americas in the West Indies and The Saba University School of Medicine in the Netherlands Antilles — as well as offshore investment accounts.

Prosecutors said Hough and Fredrick sold the schools and associated real estate in April 2007 for more than $35 million. An IRS agent testified that Hough also made more than $12 million in income from the two schools from 2003 until 2007.

Hough is scheduled to surrender to federal prison July 18 unless the judge allows her to post bail and remain free until her appeal.

Source: Shelby Webb, "Psychiatrist Gets 2-Year Sentence for Tax Evasion," The Advocate, May 11, 2014.