A former Illinois state senator is facing federal tax charges for allegedly under-reporting income from her lobbying and consulting firm and failing to file federal income tax returns, the U.S. attorney in Chicago announced Wednesday.
Annazette Collins, 58, is accused of willfully filing false individual tax returns for 2014 and 2015 and failing to file an individual tax return for 2016.
U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch, Jr. announced Collins is also accused of failing to file 2015 and 2016 tax returns for her consulting and lobbying business, Chicago-based Kourtnie Nicole Corp. Collins has declined to comment on the charges.
Collins, who left the Senate in 2013 after losing in a Democratic Party primary the year before, was among several former legislators hired by Commonwealth Edison to lobby state lawmakers. Collins registered as a contract lobbyist for ComEd in 2014.
Lausch did not mention ComEd when announcing the indictment of Collins.
Each felony count of filing a false individual income tax return is punishable by up to three years in federal prison, according to prosecutors. The misdemeanor counts of willfully failing to file individual or corporate income tax returns each carry a maximum prison sentence of one year.
