A federal judge last week sentenced the owner of Economy Plumbing and Heating Supply on Morton Street in Mattapan to four months in prison, a year of probation, restitution of $2.96 million and a fine of $200,000 for his guilty plea to four counts of filing false tax returns, the US Attorney's office reports.

Claudio Poles, 78, agreed to plead guilty in May, admitting money he put down as expenses for buying equipment such as "boilers," "materials" and "p&h sup" actually went to support his addiction to bullion - and that he under reported his personal income from the company between 2019 and 2022.

Prosecutors added that he reported losses on his tax forms when, in fact, he was making enough of a profit to buy even more gold and silver.