Bill Sizemore, Oregon's high-profile anti-tax activist and Republican candidate for governor, has been indicted on tax evasion charges that could send him to prison if convicted.
The Oregon Department of Justice said Monday that Sizemore and his wife, Cindy Sizemore, are each charged with three counts of evading Oregon personal income taxes. Each count carries a maximum punishment of five years and a $125,000 fine.
The indictment alleges the couple failed to file returns for the tax years 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Bill Sizemore called the charges a "political attack" by public employee unions and state Attorney General John Kroger, a Democrat who had union support.
Those unions and Sizemore have been in a long-running legal battle. On Monday, the Oregon Education Association — the state's largest teachers union — said Sizemore "continues to act as though he is above the law.
"It's not that he's being politically targeted; he keeps breaking the law," said OEA spokeswoman Becca Uherbelau.
In 2002, a Multnomah County jury found that Sizemore's former political action committee had engaged in a "pattern of racketeering" by filing false financial reports and using forged signatures to qualify anti-union and anti-tax measures for the ballot.