Published: November 19, 2008 09:44 am      

Vicksburg lawyer faces awaits trial on tax charges

Jackson — Vicksburg attorney Marshall Sanders is now scheduled to stand trial Thursday on federal tax evasion charges.

U.S. Magistrate Linda R. Anderson will preside over the trial in Jackson.

The trial originally was to begin Tuesday in Natchez. It was delayed following a defense motion entered Monday, according to briefs filed with the court.

Sanders, 57, was indicted in May on three counts alleging that he failed to file taxes in 2000, 2001 and 2002. The government alleges Sanders grossed nearly $3.4 million in those years and that no return had been filed since 1994.

If convicted, Sanders faces up to 15 years in prison, payment of taxes and a $300,000 fine.

Sanders, who has an economics degree from Harvard University and a law degree from Emory University, pleaded innocent in May and was released on a $10,000 bond. He has practiced mostly civil law in Vicksburg since 1977.

Under Mississippi Bar Association rules, a felony conviction results in the loss of a state license to practice law.