North Carolina Man Pleads Guilty to Failing to Pay Employment Taxes

A North Carolina businessman pleaded guilty today to one count of failing to pay over employment taxes, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo, head of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. 

According to documents filed with the court, Paul Harvey Boone, 54, operated Boone Audio Inc. in Burlington, North Carolina, since 2004.  For much of 2008 through 2011, Boone used Boone Audio to pay thousands of dollars in personal expenditures even though he did not pay over the employment taxes withheld from his employees’ paychecks.  Boone also failed to file personal income tax returns and pay income tax for tax years 2008 through 2011.  

The sentencing hearing is set for Jan. 19, 2017.  Pursuant to the plea agreement, Boone faces a potential statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison, as well as a period of supervised release and monetary penalties.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo commended special agents of Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case and Trial Attorneys Lauren Castaldi and Nathan Brooks of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting this case.  Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina for their assistance.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.