Plea agreement settles tax evasion case

A Pickens County man walked into an Oconee courtroom charged with failing to pay state taxes for five years. He walked out of that courtroom, having admitted his guilt. But he was not sent to jail. A plea agreement Thursday settled the state’s case against Central resident Valentino Oglesby, 62 years old. While working for Duke Energy and drawing an annual salary in excess of $80 thousand a year, Oglesby was arrested and charged with failing to pay state taxes for the years 2006 and 2008 through 2011. The agreement allowed Oglesby to plead guilty to criminal counts covering three of those years. The indictments charging failure to pay tax for the other two years are dismissed, according to the agreement signed by Carol McMahan, an assistant South Carolina Attorney’s General. Judge Cordell Maddox gave Oglesby one year in prison, suspended on the service of five years probation. Conditions of the sentence require the defendant to make restitution to the state in the amount of 14 thousand, 564 dollars. According to court documents, Oglesby must pay an additional $1 thousand to cover the costs of the prosecution’s case against him.