Well-known Houston attorney indicted on dozens counts relating to tax violations

HOUSTON – Houston injury attorney Jeffrey Stern has been indicted on more than a dozen counts relating to tax violations.  

The new allegations

Court documents filed in the United States District Court Southern District of Texas show Stern has been charged with 21 counts for conspiracy, witness tampering, obstruction of justice and a slew of tax violations. 

U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick said  Stern and four co-conspirators were illegally recruiting clients through the payment and receipt of kickbacks in order to get personal injury cases and legal fees. Patrick said it's a long-running criminal scheme used to evade taxes known as barratry. Prosecutors said Stern and his co-conspirators tried to hide the payments and disguise their income from the Internal Revenue Service by filing false tax returns and other tax forms in 2013. 

Patrick said when the injury attorney learned of the investigation, he said Stern allegedly tried to obstruct justice by ordering his co-conspirators to destroy subpoenaed documents and not cooperate with the investigation. 

Murder-for-hire-case 

Stern is most known for his murder-for-hire case in 2012. He was accused of conspiring with his mistress, Michelle Gaiser, to hire hitmen to murder his wife Yvonne. Gaiser went to prison while charges against Stern were dropped. 

What's next? 

Stern is due back in federal court on Thursday morning for a detention hearing. He was taken into custody after making his initial appearance on Monday.