Ex-Aflac Sales Chief Receives Two Years In Prison For Tax Fraud

Feb. 25--Ronald E. Kirkland, former director of sales of Aflac's U.S. operations, was sentenced Wednesday to two years in federal prison without parole for failing to file tax returns on almost $4 million in income.

Kirkland, 65, pleaded guilty in October in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri's Southern Division to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file tax returns in 2002 and 2003.

On Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge James C. England sentenced Kirkland to one year for each count, said Don Ledford, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri.

The court recommended Kirkland serve his consecutive sentences at a federal prison in Ashland, Ky. He is required to report to prison by 2 p.m. March 26.

Kirkland, a former Springfield, Mo., resident, made about $1,882,786 in 2002 and $2,072,904 in 2003. He admitted he filed a deadline extension each year, but never filed income tax returns. Kirkland also admitted to not filing taxes for 2004 and 2005 -- but as part of his plea agreement, he was not charged for this.

Kirkland's lawyer, Bruce Maloy of Atlanta, said Kirkland has already paid the taxes due from earlier years.

"I think that Mr. Kirkland was treated very fairly by the court," Maloy said. "This is an unfortunate situation."

This was not the first time Kirkland was convicted of willfully failing to file taxes. In 1995, Kirkland was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri to two years probation and a fine of $2,500 for not filing tax returns in 1991.

Kirkland began his career at Aflac in 1975 as a sales representative and independent contractor in Georgia. Over the years, he held various positions within the company's sales force, including state sales coordinator and vice president, west territory director. The federal office said it was while Kirkland was Aflac state sales coordinator for Missouri that he committed some of the offenses related to the case.

In 2005, Kirkland accepted a salaried position as senior vice president and director of sales for Aflac U.S. at the company's Columbus headquarters. In 2006 and 2007, Kirkland was one of the top five most compensated executives at Aflac, according to annual filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Kirkland retired from his position of U.S. sales director about a year ago. He then took a position as Aflac's state sales coordinator for Tennessee East, a role he stepped down from in October.

As part of the plea agreement, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri agreed to not pursue any additional charges against Kirkland. They also agreed they would not charge his wife, Jo Ann Kirkland, with failure to file federal income tax returns for 2002 and 2003.

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