Ill. developer ordered imprisoned for tax evasion

EAST ST. LOUIS -- A southwestern Illinois developer has been sentenced to a year and three months in federal prison and ordered to pay $3.6 million in restitution for evading federal taxes.

Fifty-five-year-old Ricki Lee Jones of Wood River also was fined more than $114,000.

Jones pleaded guilty in January to a federal tax-evasion charge. He admitted he understated his income by $3.5 million and the tax he owed by $1.2 million in 2003, when he owned Triad Industries Inc.

Jones' work included financing the renovation and opening of The Boat at the River Bend, a multimillion-dollar entertainment vessel that was docked at Alton in 2006. The business later closed.

As part of a plea deal, Jones agreed to pay $2.4 million in taxes owed from 2002 through 2005.