Montgomery Tax Scam Paid Pa. Man's Family Debts

Accounting Firm Employee Stole More Than $500,000

As word spread early this year that a Pennsylvania man had scammed Montgomery County's government out of a half-million dollars, two questions quickly surfaced: Who was he, and why did he do it?

Some answers have emerged, as Paul Shoup Jr. began serving an 18-month jail sentence Friday in a Montgomery County facility after pleading guilty to a theft scheme exceeding $500.

"This was an elaborate scheme," Montgomery County Circuit Judge Eric M. Johnson told Shoup during a recent court hearing, referring to 69 payments Shoup duped the county into mailing him.

"I tell you, it's movie material," Johnson said.

Prosecutors argued for a harsher sentence and delivered a spirited argument that white-collar criminals often get off easier than street criminals, and that Montgomery County as a whole isn't always comfortable with the idea of punishment.

But the defendant had several things going for him:

· After being caught, Shoup cooperated with investigators. With help from a sizable loan from his parents, he quickly repaid the $503,122 he had stolen.

· Fifteen family and friends wrote the judge character letters on Shoup's behalf, including a Jesuit priest from Shoup's alma mater, Georgetown University. Several letter writers said Shoup stole, in part, to cover expenses for years of in-vitro fertilization efforts and an adoption.

· Maryland's sentencing guidelines are light for white-collar criminals and do not distinguish between those who steal $500,000 and those who take $500.