The wife and former office manager for a La Jolla plastic surgeon was fined $45,000 by a federal judge on Oct. 3 and ordered to spend one year of home confinement after pleading guilty to attempted income tax evasion for concealing the surgeon’s true income and underpaying the Internal Revenue Service. Marjan Pousti, 38, was ordered to no longer handle the books for Dr. Tom Pousti’s plastic surgery firm, which has offices in La Jolla, La Mesa and Temecula, under terms of three years’ probation by U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego. Pousti will be fitted with an electronic surveillance device that will disclose her whereabouts if she leaves her home in La Jolla. Sabraw said he imposed probation and not jail time because Pousti needs to look after the care of a child at home who “unquestionably needs your assistance” due to an undisclosed medical condition. Pousti was also ordered to pay $60,017 in back taxes to the IRS and to perform 200 hours of community service. The restitution amount does not include penalties and interest, which she will have to settle with the IRS separately, said Assistant U.S. Attorney John Owens. Marjan Pousti apologized to the court, saying she was ashamed, and cried during her statement. Pousti will be allowed to leave her home to drive her daughter to the doctor and for the community service work, said the prosecutor. Owens said Pousti will not be able to go to restaurants, or social functions or other places during her home confinement period. “Probation is a privilege, not a right,” Sabraw said as he described the sentence to her in court. He added he felt probation was “reasonable and appropriate” in this case. Dr. Tom Pousti was not in court and both sides say he was unaware of the tax evasion. He is not a suspect, Owens said. Owens said in court the costs of the investigation came to $25,000. Sabraw imposed a $20,000 fine and added the costs of investigation to it to total $45,000. Sabraw said Marjan Pousti could still do very limited duties with the cosmetic business, such as accepting resumes and hiring, but could have no financial duties. As part of her guilty plea in July, Marjan Pousti admitted she willfully evaded taxes for the 2005 year and under-reported income. She pleaded guilty to the only charge filed against her. Her attorney, Charles La Bella, said earlier that she “voluntarily gave that job up” some time ago and had no role in the cosmetic surgery business. La Bella is the former U.S. Attorney in San Diego. She could have received a maximum term of five years in federal prison and a $100,000 fine, but Sabraw said the guideline range for her case and circumstances ranged from no time to six months in prison. He noted she had no prior record. The business accepts credit cards and checks, but when cash was paid in 2004 and 2005, Pousti began concealing it by converting it to U.S. Postal Service money orders to pay bills, including mortgage payments, court records say. She used so many Postal Service money orders that it drew attention from U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Internal Revenue Service.