NEWS RELEASE
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
BETH PHILLIPS
Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106
www.justice.gov/usao/mow/index.html
AUGUST 30, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HANNIBAL RESTAURANT MANAGER PLEADS GUILTY
TO FAILING TO PAY EMPLOYMENT TAXES
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that the manager of a Hannibal, Mo., restaurant pleaded guilty in federal court today to failing to pay federal employment taxes for his workers.
Neftali Palomino Lopez, 36, of Kirksville, Mo., a citizen of Mexico who is a legal resident alien, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert E. Larsen to the charge contained in a federal information.
Lopez is the president of Ivyana, Inc., doing business as El Vaquero restaurant in Hannibal, and manager of the restaurant. By pleading guilty today, Lopez admitted that he failed to collect and pay $20,629 in employment taxes to the federal government between Feb. 1, 2007, and July 31, 2008.
Under federal statutes, Lopez is subject to a sentence of up to one year in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $5,000 and an order of restitution. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Pansing Brown. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.
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