Man pleads guilty to tax evasion in cemetery case

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A cemetery owner charged with helping steal millions from funeral home trust funds has pleaded guilty to tax evasion.

According to WMC-TV, 71-year-old Clayton Smart made the plea Friday as part of a larger deal reached earlier this year transferring the charge from Oklahoma to Memphis.

Smart, a former Oklahoma oilman, faces up to five years in prison on the charge and a fine of $250,000 when he is sentenced June 30.

Smart was indicted in 2007 in Memphis, accused of diverting $20 million from cemetery trust funds. The cemeteries are in Tennessee and Michigan.

Prosecutors in Oklahoma have said Smart filed a federal tax return for 2004 showing he had no income that year, but actually made more than $11 million and owed more than $4 million in taxes.