WY Radio: Station Co-Owner Sentenced To Prison For Tax Evasion

Susan K Patrick

The co-owner of the largest group of talk radio and country music stations in Wyoming has been sentenced to 15-months in prison for evading millions of dollars in taxes related to a media M&A advisory business she ran with her husband. In total, Patrick sought to evade more than $2.5 million in taxes.

Susan K. Patrick of Cody, Wyoming, admitted last September that she worked to hide $10 million earned by Patrick Communications, a Maryland-based brokerage firm she ran with her husband, Larry Patrick, that advised on the sale of radio and television stations.

She also admitted to falsifying her own tax returns to omit $9.5 million in income she had earned from the business, federal prosecutors in Maryland said. 

The couple co-own Legend Communications, the parent company of Big Horn Basin Media,  which operates 22 radio stations in Wyoming, including several country music and conservative talk radio stations in its larger market towns of Cody, Sheridan and Gillette. 

On its website, Legend describes itself as the largest radio station group in Wyoming.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III for the District of Maryland ordered Patrick to serve one year of supervised release and to pay approximately $3,843,922 in restitution to the United States.