A Big Sandy couple were sentenced to prison Friday for federal tax violations and ordered to repay the Internal Revenue Service more than $570,000.

Timothy Patton, 61, was sentenced to three years and four months in federal prison, and his wife, Dawn Patton, 54, was sentenced to three years in prison, U.S. Attorney John M. Bales said. The couple also must pay $571,734 in restitution.

They were found guilty in July of five counts of attempting to evade federal income tax plus conspiracy to evade federal income tax.

Starting in 2000, the Pattons stopped filing federal income tax returns and began insisting that their employers not withhold any federal income tax, Bales said.

Timothy and Dawn Patton each provided false W-2s to their employers, claiming each was single and exempt from income tax, Bales said.

They also had their employers begin issuing paychecks to the Office of the Patriarch of the Gathering of the House of Israel, an entity created by Timothy Patton using an invalid employer identification number, Bales said.

The Pattons regularly refused to provide their Social Security numbers to their employers, he said. They also claimed they were not the people named in the indictment, and insisted on being called “Bother T” and “Mimi,” Bales said.