Bruce Vielmetti

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Mequon accountant who used a former Milwaukee Bucks player's identity to defraud the IRS of more than $800,000 is heading to federal prison — after he files tax returns for his remaining clients through the end of April.

Randy Usow, 63, filed tax returns for Zaza Pachulia and his wife for about 10 years, starting in 2004. But from about 2011, Usow filed bogus returns that generated excessive refunds, much of which Usow pocketed.

Pachulia was unaware of anything illegal and wound up having to hire other accountants and lawyers to clear up his taxes with the IRS. He later sued Usow for the costs of that effort.

Usow wasn't charged until last fall when he also agreed to plead guilty to two counts — theft of government property and identity theft, the latter of which comes with a mandatory two-year prison term.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Jacobs urged a total prison term of three years, noting the repeated nature of the crime and the betrayal of professional trust. "This motivation is straight greed," Jacobs said.

Even the three years was well below the range of 54 to 61 months suggested by federal sentencing guidelines, as a result of the plea bargain.

Usow's scheme included a single $463,867 refund in April 2015 from a 2014 return Usow prepared. The refund went to a bank account Usow established in both his and Pachulia's name without the player's knowledge.

Usow gave Pachulia and his wife copies of a return that showed a smaller refund due, about $164,000.

Usow transferred the large refund to another account he controlled, in the name US Government LLC, and then wired the smaller amount to Pachulia's account to make it appear the money was from the IRS.

Usow's attorney, Michael Goller, argued that the required two-year term would make his client 65 when he gets out and that it would be harder every extra year to find employment as an accountant. He also mentioned that Usow has helped care for his elderly parents in Florida.

U.S. District Judge Pamela Pepper credited Usow for his generally good character and support from family and some clients who stuck with him despite his conviction.

But she noted that unlike most tax refund fraud cases she sees, involving poorly trained people getting poor people to let them do their returns, Usow has post-graduate training and no real need for the money he stole.

"You were someone everybody had the right to put their confidence in," she said.

And while it might be hard to think of the IRS as a victim, "there's another way to look at it; everyone in this room is a victim. It's taxpayers' money."

Pepper sentenced Usow to 30 months in prison, plus three years of supervised release. She granted Goller's request that Usow be allowed to surrender after April 30 — so he would have time to finish tax returns for his remaining clients.

Usow owes $618,455 in restitution, which he will have to repay at a minimum of $200 a month when he gets out of prison.

Pachulia, 35, was only 20 when he first landed with the Bucks, after being drafted by Orlando, moving to Charlotte in the expansion draft and then being traded to Milwaukee in 2004. He averaged 6.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game with the Bucks in the 2004-'05 season.

He spent the next several seasons with the Atlanta Hawks before returning to the Bucks in 2013. He was traded again in 2015, to Dallas for one season. He spent the next two seasons with the Golden State Warriors and is currently playing with the Detroit Pistons, averaging 14.5 minutes, 4.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

Neither Pachulia nor any representative was at Usow's sentencing, and no one mentioned his name throughout the hearing, referring to him only as "your client."