Smith
An attorney from Seymour was arrested Tuesday in Johnson County on a warrant for multiple felony counts of corrupt business influence, theft and tax evasion.
The investigation by the Indiana State Police began last year when it was reported that Attorney Jason Michael Smith, 45, of Seymour had not filed personal or business tax returns in the last few years.
Detective Tim Denby with the Indiana State Police’s Special Investigations Section determined that Smith is an attorney who owns Smith Law Services and Floyd Harris Holdings LLC.
Records showed that since 2018, Smith had not paid any income tax personally or for his businesses. From 2019 to 2023, Smith had deposited over $2.5 million into his Smith Law Services bank account. Some of the ways that he used this as a personal checking account include expenses for Netflix, Great Clips, North Side Liquors, Cracker Barrel and Indianapolis Colts being paid with the account.
During the same time period, he deposited over $1.3 million into the Floyd Harris Holdings account. The investigation determined that he did not pay taxes on the income deposited into those accounts and that he used those accounts for making numerous personal purchases.
On Oct. 2, detectives served a search warrant at Smith’s residence and law office on 121 N. Chestnut St., Seymour. During the search, investigators located 1,274 grams of Kratom inside a locked safe.
According to court records after analyzing and weighing the drug on Dec. 31, it was determined that it was Kratom which contains mitragynine, a synthetic drug that can produce opioid- and stimulant-like effects.
At the conclusion of the investigation, the case was presented to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office for review. On Tuesday, Jackson Circuit Judge Richard W. Poynter issued for the arrest of Jason Smith on 12 charges.
The charges include one count of corrupt business influence, a Level 5 felony; five Level 6 felony counts each of tax evasion and theft; and one count of possession of a controlled substance (Class A misdemeanor).
On Tuesday, officers with the Greenwood Police Department located Smith at a home he was renting in Greenwood and arrested him without incident. He was incarcerated in the Johnson County Jail, pending his transfer to Jackson County where he will soon face an initial appearance in court.
Revenue Service Agents also helped out Indiana State Police Detectives in this investigation.
Smith has been a licensed attorney in Indiana since 2006. He’s been before the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission three times, in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
As a result of the 2020 case, he was suspended from practicing law for 30 days in early March 2022 for professional misconduct and ordered to pay $12,505.56 in court costs. The 2021 case was later dismissed as moot, but the 2022 case led Smith to receive another 120-day suspension, which was issued in June 2022.
This last suspension was the result of “reciprocal discipline,” as the Indiana Supreme Court had learned Smith had been suspended for two years in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit at the end of March 2022, according to online records.
All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
