EUGENE, Ore. — A Coquille pastor and his wife who fled to Arizona as fugitives in a million-dollar tax evasion case have been sentenced to federal prison.
The Register-Guard reported that Ronald Joling, 71, was given an eight-year prison sentence Thursday. His wife, Dorthea Joling, 73, was sentenced to four years behind bars.
The Jolings were convicted of tax evasion last year and then fled to Arizona to avoid sentencing. U.S. marshals arrested them.
A judge ordered the couple to liquidate all their assets and pay $1.2 million back to the federal government.
Ronald Joling had said he stopped paying income taxes in the early 1990s after concluding the tax laws don’t apply to him. His wife said she was following his direction.
