Former San Diego Chargers offensive tackle and guard, and Maui, Hawaii businessman, Charles Loewen, has been sentenced to 37 months in federal prison after pleading guilty this past March to conspiring to defraud the United States government out of more than $2 million.
Reports by Rob Shikina, of the Honolulu, Hawaii’s “Star/Advertiser” state that Loewen and his wife, Paula Loewen, falsely claimed refunds from the Internal Revenue Service that totaled more than $2.35 million by creating fake supporting tax documents. He closed his local bank accounts in a bid to avoid detection, even asking his wife to open a new account.
As well as having to pay back $235,288 in restitution for federal taxes, Loewen also owes $127,000 in state taxes. This sum dates back to between 2004-2008.
Fifty-seven-year-old Loewen graduated from Mountain Lake Public High School in 1975 and from South Dakota State University (SDSU) in Brookings, South Dakota, in 1980, where he played football for the Jackrabbits. Now the owner of Paradise Stone and Tile in Maui, he was sentenced in federal court on Thursday, July 3.
Paula Loewen was sentenced to three years probation and a $5,000 fine for her role in failing to file a tax return for 2007. She was ordered her to pay $5,034 in restitution.
He spent four seasons in the National Football League with the Chargers, playing in 47 games between 1980-1984, after being drafted out of SDSU as a seventh-round pick.