James Perdigao
Introduction
James Perdigao, a 64-year-old resident of New Orleans, was charged on October 26, 2026, in a two-count bill of information with filing false tax returns in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(1), announced U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle. According to the bill of information, Perdigao filed a 2022 individual income tax return that failed to include income in the approximate amount of $79,011.01, and, as the owner of DC Trucking and Hauling, filed a 2023 corporate income tax return that included approximately $235,274 in false deductions. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of three years, a fine of up to $100,000, up to one year of supervised release, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.
Background Information
Perdigao is a New Orleans man whose federal tax exposure runs through two separate filings in two consecutive years: his personal 2022 individual income tax return and the 2023 corporate income tax return of DC Trucking and Hauling, the trucking business he owned. The corporate return covered the 2023 tax year that closed on December 31, 2023. Both counts arise under Section 7206(1), the provision the bill of information cites for filing false tax returns. The case sits with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, whose financial crimes prosecutor is handling the matter.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Charged, not convicted.
The first count concerns Perdigao’s 2022 individual income tax return. According to the bill of information, that return failed to include income in the approximate amount of $79,011.01 — a sum the charging document places outside the return entirely. On the government’s reading, the return Perdigao actually filed for 2022 did not account for income of that size, which is the conduct the false-return charge under Section 7206(1) is aimed at. The count is personal to Perdigao and concerns his own individual filing for that tax year.
The second count turns on the corporate side of his finances. Perdigao, as the owner of DC Trucking and Hauling, filed a 2023 corporate income tax return that included approximately $235,274 in false deductions, according to the bill of information. Where the 2022 count alleges income that was left off a return, the 2023 count alleges deductions that were false — claimed reductions of the company’s taxable income that the charging document says did not legitimately belong on the return. Together, the two counts reach both his personal and his business tax filings in consecutive years.
The charging instrument is a two-count bill of information, filed October 26, 2026, charging violations of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(1). If convicted, Perdigao faces a maximum sentence of three years, and/or a fine of up to $100,000, a term of supervised release of up to one year after his release from prison, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee. No arraignment date, plea, or trial date is reported in the announcement, and the charge covers the 2022 and 2023 returns together.
Public Reaction and Consequences
U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle announced the charge and reiterated that the bill of information is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt — the government’s own framing that Perdigao remains innocent in the eyes of the law unless and until a conviction is obtained. Courcelle praised the work of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, the investigative arm whose work produced the case. The prosecution of the case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division and Chief of the Financial Crimes Unit, placing the matter squarely within the district’s financial crimes portfolio.
Current Status
Perdigao stands charged but not convicted. The two-count bill of information, filed October 26, 2026, alleges a false 2022 individual return omitting approximately $79,011.01 in income and a false 2023 corporate return for DC Trucking and Hauling containing approximately $235,274 in false deductions. His maximum exposure if convicted is three years in prison, a fine of up to $100,000, up to one year of supervised release after prison, and a $100 special assessment. No arraignment, plea, or trial date appears in the announcement, and under the government’s own statement his guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt before any conviction can stand. The case remains pending.
Impact on Their Career/Life
The charge reaches both sides of Perdigao’s financial life: the personal return he filed for 2022 and the corporate return filed in 2023 for the trucking company he owns. A conviction would carry up to three years in prison, a fine of up to $100,000, and a term of supervised release, and the case alone places DC Trucking and Hauling’s tax filings at the center of a federal prosecution worked by the Financial Crimes Unit with IRS Criminal Investigations credited. Because the bill of information is merely a charge, the ultimate consequences for his freedom and his business turn on how the pending case is resolved.
Sources
- U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, “New Orleans Man Charged With Filing False Tax Returns”, October 29, 2026 — source