Blackstone Man Sentenced for Tax Crime

BOSTON – A Blackstone, Mass. man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Boston to charges that he impeded the IRS by cashing nearly $3 million in checks from his masonry business at check cashing services to evade the IRS. 

John W. Lippolis, 56, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to one year and one day in prison, one year of supervised release and restitution of $172,759 to the IRS. In June 2015, he pleaded guilty to one count of corruptly endeavoring to impede the IRS. 

From 2005 to 2011, Lippolis was the sole proprietor of JW Masonry, a masonry company which operated in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.  At various times, he also worked for his son’s business, JM Masonry Inc.  When Lippolis was paid by check for work performed, he used check cashing services to cash the checks instead of depositing the funds into a bank account in an effort to avoid IRS scrutiny.  Lippolis operated his business in cash, paid workers in cash, and requested that customers not write checks to him for amounts exceeding $10,000, which would trigger a reporting requirement for financial institutions that cashed the checks.  Lippolis also failed to file tax returns for many years. 

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra S. Bower of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.