Former Buddy's Carpet Exec Pleads Guilty

Dayton, OH, May 8, 2007--A former executive of the Buddy's Carpet and Flooring retail chain has pleaded guilty to a charge of tax evasion, Dayton Business Journal. The journal reported that Bruce Cohen, 61, faces up to five years in jail followed by two years of supervised release, and a maximum $250,000 fine for allegedly conspiring to commit tax fraud and filing false income tax returns, attributing the U.S Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. Cohen, of Louisville, Ky., served as a financial services and insurance salesman for Buddy's Carpet. In 2005, a federal grand jury in Columbus returned a seven-count indictment alleging tax evasion, conspiracy to commit tax fraud and filing false income tax returns against the following: Former owner Burton "Buddy" Kallick of Cincinnati. Former owner Leif Rozin of Bonita Springs, Fla. Former in-house counsel Alan Koehler of Purcellville, Va. Milton Liss of Cincinnati, the company's former investment and insurance adviser. Kallick passed away in January and is no longer a defendant in the case. Rozin, Koehler and Liss are scheduled for a trial in September. Buddy's Carpet, based in Franklin, has about 29 stores in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Kallick once was the company's top pitchman, who assured customers in advertisements that they had "a buddy in the carpet business."