Former Norfolk Anchor is Sentenced

Former WTKR (Norfolk) Anchor Juliet Bickford was sentenced Today after pleading guilty to tax crimes several months ago.

Bickford was sentenced to one year probation, 200 hours of community service and must pay $10,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

Additionally, Bickford cannot open any credit cards without consulting her probation officer and her financial records have to remain open to her probation officer. She also cannot possess any weapons.

Because Bickford is married to a service member, she will be allowed to travel overseas if necessary.

She pled guilty to filing a false tax return after deducting a hot tub purchased with her mother’s credit card in 2011. Court papers said while Bickford was an authorized user of the credit card, she was not legally responsible to pay for it, meaning she could not deduct the hot tub on her own tax return.

“Without the inclusion of expenses related to the hot tub purchase, the defendant would not have been entitled to any deductions for Medical and Dental Expenses,” court documents said. “This claimed deduction was a material matter on the defendant’s 2011 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return in that it had the effect of inflating the defendant’s refund for tax year 2011. The claiming of this deduction resulted in a tax loss, for criminal sentencing purposes, of less than five thousand dollars ($5,000).”

H/T WAVY