Business Owner Sentenced For Failing To Pay Employee Withholding Taxes To IRS

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - A resident of Monroeville, Pa., has been sentenced in federal court to 18 months in prison and three years supervised release on his conviction of failure to pay taxes associated with his businesses, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

Senior United States District Judge Gustave Diamond imposed the sentence on Richard D. Edwards, 55, of Monroeville, Pa.

According to information presented to the court, Edwards failed to account for and pay over withholding taxes for various employees in his business Custom Patio Rooms .

Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Diamond stated that Edwards had deliberately continued to fail to pay withholding taxes for a period of more than two years despite having been warned by both an accountant and an attorney that he had to file proper returns and pay the taxes reported on those returns. Judge Diamond also noted that Edwards and/or his businesses had more than 300 contacts of various kinds with the IRS urging him to properly report and pay his taxes during the time period in question.

In addition to the time in prison and the period of supervised release Edwards was also ordered to pay all back taxes, penalties and interest that were due and owing.

U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Special Agents who for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Edwards.