Maybe Things Would Have Gone Better with Coke For this Soda Executive

Michael Lynch, a resident of Newport, RI, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison on charges of tax evasion and fraud.

Lynch was a national sales executive for Dr. Pepper/Seven Up Inc., which is a subsidiary of Dr. Pepper Snapple Group.  Lynch had previously admitted in court that Seacoast Unlimited Marketing and Promotions LLC, a company he incorporated in his wife’s name, had submitted more than 200 fraudulent invoices to Dr. Pepper for promotional services such as signs, banners and delivery of sample products.  None of those services paid by Dr. Pepper were provided.

Lynch also admitted that he failed to declare income derived from Seacoast on his tax returns he filed jointly with his wife. The loss to the IRS totaled $386,320.

In addition to his prison sentence, Lynch was given 2 years supervised release after prison, and ordered to pay full restitution to Dr. Pepper and back taxes owed to the IRS.