A husband and wife residing in Lewis Center, Ohio, were sentenced to prison in U.S. District Court today for their roles in a fraud scheme related to the company Imperial Integrative Health Research and Development LLC (Imperial) and its product, OXYwater, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Carter M. Stewart of the Southern District of Ohio.
Preston J. Harrison, 43, and Lovena Harrison, 42, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gregory L. Frost of the Southern District of Ohio. Preston Harrison was sentenced to serve 83 months in prison and three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $375,985.15 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and $8,840,706 to victims of the fraud, and to forfeit $1.1 million, including two vehicles, eight weapons, cash and the contents of a bank account. Lovena Harrison, Preston Harrison’s wife, was sentenced to serve one year and one day in prison and three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $375,985.15 in restitution to the IRS.
“The sentences imposed today reflect the department’s commitment to investigating and vigorously prosecuting individuals who defraud investors, misappropriate funds to finance lavish lifestyles and file false tax returns to conceal their ill-gotten gains,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo. “Like the Harrisons, those who engage in such conduct will pay a heavy price.”