LEXINGTON, Ky. -John Raymond Sturgill, 51, of Bronston, Ky., pleaded guilty today in United States District Court to an Information charging filing false income tax returns.

After waiving his right to be indicted by a grand jury, Sturgill entered his guilty plea to the Information pursuant to a plea agreement with the prosecutor, Assistant United States Attorney John Patrick Grant.

In the course of his plea, Sturgill admitted that he willfully failed to include on his 2003 and 2004 federal income tax returns capital gains and interest that he received from the installment sales of a funeral home and a cemetery in Pennington Gap, Va. As a result, Sturgill failed to pay over $7,000 in federal income taxes.

Amul R. Thapar, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Cleve Daniels, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division; and Tracy A. Reinhold, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, jointly made the announcement today after Sturgill entered his guilty plea.

Sturgill is currently scheduled to appear for sentencing before Judge Danny C. Reeves in Lexington, Ky., on May 25, 2007, at 2:00 p.m.