Fort Lauderdale male escort pleads guilty to filing false tax return, owes IRS $278,000

A Fort Lauderdale male escort who traveled the country to meet clients failed to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in income to the federal government that could send him to prison for a few years, authorities say.

Jami Kopacz, 46, pleaded guilty Wednesday to filing a false tax return in 2018 but is on the hook for $278,325 to the IRS for his failure to pay taxes on unreported income from his escort business over four years.

Kopacz faces up to three years in prison at his sentencing on March 5, 2021, before U.S. District Judge Roy Altman. But Kopacz is possibly going to serve a shorter sentence because he accepted responsibility, promised to repay the IRS and is cooperating with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in an ongoing investigation of South Florida’s escort industry, according to his plea agreement.

Kopacz, described as a “paid escort” by authorities, was the manager and sole shareholder of JK Training LLC, which was located at 901 NE 3rd St. in Fort Lauderdale. Both he and his business received cash, checks and wire transfers from clients, according to a factual statement filed with his plea agreement. Kopacz’s company also received payments from a private business for whom he worked as an independent contractor and escort.

The false reporting of income on JK Training’s corporate tax return flowed to Kopacz’s individual tax return. But for tax years 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, Kopacz acknowledged in the factual statement that he filed false IRS returns by “knowingly” under-reporting his corporate and personal income.

The amount of unreported income grew higher during the four-year span, resulting in a failure to pay back taxes of $27,208 in 2015, $34,920 in 2016, $101,875 in 2017 and $114,322 in 2018 for a total IRS loss of $278,325, according to federal prosecutor Christopher Browne.

“Specifically, the defendant failed to report large amounts of cash and check payments he had received from clients,” said the factual statement, which was signed by Kopacz and his defense attorney, Richard Lubin, along with Browne and Justice Department tax attorney Grace Albinson.

The case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation’s Miami field office.