Texas Construction Company Owner Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Obstructing IRS Efforts to Collect $1.4 Million in Unpaid Taxes
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on October 29 that David Stone, the owner of a Texas construction company, was sentenced that day to 30 months in federal prison for obstructing the Internal Revenue Service's efforts to collect unpaid employment taxes owed by the business. Stone owned and operated Engineered Metals Company, a roofing, siding and sheet metal business based in Austin, Texas.
According to the Justice Department's release issued when Stone pleaded guilty in April, Stone willfully failed to pay over employment taxes he had collected on behalf of the company's employees. After the IRS began collection proceedings, Stone stopped filing individual income tax returns and used business accounts to pay personal expenses, such as child support and alimony, to keep funds out of his own hands and conceal his income from the IRS.
The department said Stone's obstructive actions persisted from 2013 through 2024 and caused a tax loss to the United States of approximately $1.4 million. He pleaded guilty in April to corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the due administration of the internal revenue laws, a charge carrying a maximum penalty of three years in prison, and received a 30-month sentence on October 29.
IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case. Assistant Deputy Chief David Zisserson and Trial Attorney Caroline Pearson of the Criminal Division's Tax Section prosecuted the case, and the sentence was announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的美国国税局总部大楼（素材库 federal-core 固定图）。GSM 素材库。 / The Internal Revenue Service headquarters building in Washington. GSM asset library (federal-core pack).
