Grain Valley Business Owner Pleads Guilty to Failing to Pay $1.5 Million in Payroll Taxes

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Grain Valley, Missouri, business owner pleaded guilty in federal court today to failing to pay more than $1.5 million in federal and state payroll taxes collected from his employees.

Jeremy Hull, 43, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to failing to account for and pay over to the Internal Revenue Service the federal employment taxes withheld for the fourth quarter of the tax year 2013.

Hull owned and operated Hullmark, LLC, a construction company, from December 2010 to December 2016. Hull withheld $707,029 in federal income taxes and FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) taxes from his employees’ wages from 2013 through 2014. Hull also withheld $866,337 in state taxes from his employees’ wages. By pleading guilty today, Hull admitted that he failed to account for and pay over those taxes to the IRS and the Missouri Department of Revenue.

Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Hull must pay $707,029 in restitution to the federal government and $866,337 in restitution to the Missouri Department of Revenue, for a total of $1,573,366 in restitution.

Under federal statutes, Hull is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. 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. Attorneys Tom Larson and Leigh Farmakidis. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Missouri Department of Revenue.