U.S. District Court Judge Frank Whitney is inching closer to handing down sentences to pastors Anthony and Harriet Jinwright.

After listening to all witnesses in the couple’s sentencing hearing, Whitney ruled today that Anthony Jinwright’s criminal culpability totaled $1,284,650 in unpaid taxes. Harriet Jinwright, he said, is criminally culpable for $1,181,015.

The numbers are important because they, among other factors, will be used to determine the maximum prison time the Jinwrights face.

On Wednesday, a former IRS agent who testified in favor of the Jinwrights estimated their tax liability at $43,000. Today, however, before he adjourned the court for a mid-day recess, Whitney called the former agent’s testimony “a waste of everybody’s time.”

The Jinwright’s indictment listed a tax liability of $85,000. That figure jumped to $664,352 during the trial and then to $1.4 million during the sentencing hearing.

A current IRS agent, testifying Wednesday for the government, said the $1.4 million was based on a thorough analysis of tax years 1991-1993 and 1998-2008. The $85,000 listed in the indictment, she said, was an initial estimate based on tax years 2002-2007.

Anthony Jinwright, 54, was convicted in May on 13 of 18 charges, including conspiracy and multiple counts of filing false tax returns and tax evasion. The charges carry a maximum punishment of 53 years in prison. He was acquitted on five counts of mail fraud.

Harriet Jinwright, 51, was found guilty on four of 13 charges, including conspiracy and tax evasion. Those charges carry a maximum of 20 years in prison. She was acquitted on three counts of tax evasion and six counts of filing false tax returns.

Qcitymetro.com could not immediately determine whether the higher tax numbers will affect the maximum sentences the Jinwrights face.

In the government’s closing statement to Whitney, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Brown said the higher number was “100 percent accurate.”

“What we have here, your honor, are 18-year tax cheats,” he said of the Jinwrights.”

Noting that several witnesses testified during the four-week trial to having warned the Jinwrights about potential tax liabilities, Brown added: “There isn’t any lack of criminal intent here.”

Ed Hinson, representing Anthony Jinwright, disagreed.

Hinson acknowledged that his client made tax errors but said Anthony Jinwright never intended to defraud the government. The Jinwrights, he said, were not the type to keep up with tax law.

“These people are not like that,” he said. “What they’ve done here is be careless and reckless in keeping up with their accounting, and I submit their accountants were, too.”

Court will resume at 2 p.m. Whitney has told both sides that he wants to issue sentences today, possibly as late as 9 p.m.

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