Driscoll Indicted For Tax Evasion

Trumpeter-turned-minister Phil Driscoll and two others were charged with income tax evasion August 19th for allegedly funneling up to $1 million through his various ministries.

Driscoll, his wife, Donna, and mother-in-law, Annie McDonald-Blankenship, were named in an indictment presented in U.S. District Court in Knoxville, Tenn.

The three are accused of hiding $85,000 from a real estate sale by listing the funds as donations to Mighty Horn Ministries Inc., Phil Driscoll Ministries and the Spirit of Freedom Foundation Inc., which are tax-exempt.

The indictment also alleges the Driscolls and McDonald-Blankenship, who worked as a bookkeeper for the couple, diverted funds for personal expenses such as mortgage and car payments, and a funeral.

The transactions allegedly occurred from 1993 to 2002 in Cleveland, Chattanooga, Tenn., and Jacksonville, Fla.

Arrest warrants have been issued for all three and Driscoll is listed on federal documents as a fugitive.

Driscoll recorded with several acts in the 1970s including Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, Stephen Stills, and Blood, Sweat & Tears. He has since recorded more than 30 albums of gospel and patriotic music that are distributed through his Mighty Horn Records and its Web site.

The Grammy and Dove Award-winner performed last year at the dedication ceremony for Bill Clinton’s presidential library in Little Rock, Ark.