Case docket
United States v. Leon Haynes — U.S. District Court, D.N.J.
United States v. Haynes — 5 court filings in the archive from U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, filed between April 3, 2024 and April 15, 2026. Among them: 1 indictment and 1 judgment.
Case facts
| Caption | United States v. Haynes |
|---|---|
| Court | U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey |
| Docket number | 2:24-cr-00232 |
| Filings | 5 public filings |
| Filed | 2024-04-03 – 2026-04-15 |
| Document types | indictment (1), judgment (1) |
| Original PDFs | 5 of 5 |
Case summary
Leon Haynes was prosecuted in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, No. 2:24-cr-00232-WJM, before Judge William J. Martini. A second amended indictment filed October 30, 2025 charges that from about November 2020 through about May 2023 Haynes, a tax preparer, executed a scheme to defraud the United States of more than $150,000,000 by preparing and filing more than 1,600 quarterly employment tax returns for himself and his clients that falsely claimed COVID-related tax credits. It charges counts 1 through 15 of aiding false tax returns, count 16 of mail fraud and counts 17 and 18 of tax evasion. A jury verdict was returned November 13, 2025 and a judgment was entered April 15, 2026; both are scans with no extractable text, so the sentence does not appear on the page.
Case at a glance
| Defendant(s) | Leon Haynes |
|---|---|
| Court and docket | U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Crim. No. 24-232 (No. 2:24-cr-00232-WJM), Hon. William J. Martini |
| District | District of New Jersey prosecutions → |
| Program | COVID-related employment tax credits: the employee retention credit created by the CARES Act, as modified by the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020 and the American Rescue Plan Act |
| Charges | Second amended indictment: counts 1-15, 26 U.S.C. § 7206(2) (false tax returns); count 16, 18 U.S.C. § 1341 (mail fraud); counts 17-18, 26 U.S.C. § 7201 (tax evasion). The July 22, 2025 superseding indictment charged counts 1-18 under § 7206(2), counts 19-22 of mail fraud and count 23 of aggravated identity theft (18 U.S.C. §§ 1028A, 2) |
| Outcome and sentence | Jury verdict November 13, 2025; judgment entered April 15, 2026, its docket entry recording guilty on counts 1s-3s, 4s, 5s and 7s-8s. The verdict and judgment PDFs have no extractable text, so no sentence can be read from the page |
| Counts of conviction | Found guilty on counts 1s-18s by a jury verdict on 11/10/2025 after a plea of not guilty: aiding and assisting in the preparation of false returns, 26:7206(2), counts 1s-15s; mail fraud, 18:1341, count 16s; tax evasion, 26:7201, counts 17s and 18s (judgment of April 15, 2026, pp. 1-2); the verdict date of November 13, 2025 and the shorter count list in the outcome row come from the docket entries |
| Sentence imposed | 144 months' imprisonment: 36 months on each of counts 1s-15s, 144 months on count 16s, 60 months on each of counts 17s and 18s, concurrent (p. 3); five years of supervised release: one year on each of counts 1s-15s, five years on count 16s, three years on each of counts 17s and 18s, concurrent (p. 4); sentence pronounced April 08, 2026 (p. 2) |
| Restitution | $55,217,857.72, payable to the U.S. Treasury for distribution to the IRS; due immediately, with installments of no less than $500 a month after release (p. 8) |
| Fine and assessment | Special assessment $1,800.00, $100.00 for each of counts 1s-18s (p. 2) |
| Status checked | 2026-09-23 · against DOJ press releases through 2026-09-22; court docket not yet read |
What does the second amended indictment allege?
That Haynes prepared and filed more than 1,600 quarterly employment tax returns falsely claiming that he and his clients were entitled to refunds based on COVID-related tax credits, and that the scheme sought more than $150,000,000 from the United States.
Which credit is at issue?
The employee retention credit. The indictment describes it as a refundable credit against certain employment taxes worth 50 percent of up to $10,000 of qualified wages per employee for 2020 and 70 percent of up to $10,000 per employee per quarter for 2021, capped at $5,000 per employee for 2020 and $7,000 per employee per quarter for 2021.
What does the page show about the outcome?
A jury verdict dated November 13, 2025 and a judgment dated April 15, 2026. Both extract as page footers only; the charges in the indictments remain allegations on the face of the documents whose text the page carries.
Summary written from the documents on this page; every sentence is sourced.
Filings
5 public filings from this case, in filing-date order.
- Indictment — United States v. Haynes (Dkt. 16, D.N.J.)Dkt. 16 · PDF
- Superseding Indictment as to Leon Haynes (1) counts 1s-26s — United States v. Haynes (Dkt. 54, D.N.J. No. 2:24-cr-00232)Indictment · PDF
- SECOND AMENDED INDICTMENT as to LEON HAYNES (1) counts 1-18…PDF
- Jury Verdict as to Leon Haynes — United States v. Haynes (Dkt. 106, D.N.J. No. 2:24-cr-00232)PDF
- Judgment as to Leon Haynes (1), Guilty on Counts 1s-3s, 4s, 5s, 7s-8s — United States v. Haynes (Dkt. 128, D.N.J. No. 2:24-cr-00232)Judgment · PDF
Court, dates and docket numbers are as recorded on the filings.