Chicago consultant and former state lawmaker convicted of federal tax offenses

CHICAGO - A Chicago consultant has been found guilty of federal tax offenses for deliberately underreporting and neglecting to file federal income taxes.

The verdict was delivered on Monday in Chicago, where 61-year-old Annazette Collins was convicted on four tax counts and acquitted on two others.

During the trial, prosecutors said Collins knowingly filed false individual tax returns for the years 2014 and 2015 and failed to file an individual income tax return for the year 2016. Additionally, Collins neglected to file a corporate income tax return for the year 2016 for her consulting and lobbying business, Kourtnie Nicole Corp, based in Chicago.

Collins' actions resulted in a federal tax loss totaling about $86,000.

Prior to her consulting venture, Collins served in the Illinois General Assembly as a Representative and Senator.

She will be sentenced on June 21, 2024. Each felony count of filing a false individual income tax return carries a potential sentence of up to three years in prison, while the misdemeanor counts of willfully failing to file individual or corporate income tax returns each have a maximum sentence of one year.

State Sen. Annazette Collins is on the Senate floor at the State Capitol in Springfield on Dec.13, 2011. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)