Salt Lake escort service manager sentenced for tax evasion

SALT LAKE CITY — A woman who operated a Salt Lake escort service will serve time in prison for failing to pay income taxes.

U.S. District Judge Dee Benson sentenced Jodi Hoskins to 36 months in a federal penitentiary Friday. He also ordered her to pay $736,183 in restitution and serve 36 months supervised release after her prison term ends.

Benson found Hoskins, 35, guilty of tax evasion for underreporting to the IRS gross receipts from the business in a three-day bench trial in January.

Hoskins worked as the business manager at Companions, a call-out escort service owned by her then-husband Roy B. Hoskins. She was actively involved in the management and operation from its inception in 2000 and was aware of all of the company's finances, according to court findings. The evidence at trial showed that the couple underreported $1.2 million in receipts in 2002, resulting in a federal tax loss of $485,443.

Benson previously sentenced Roy Hoskins to 60 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to tax evasion.

— Dennis Romboy