Youngstown Doctor Sentenced for Failing to Pay Taxes

PITTSBURGH, PA A resident of Wexford, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to five years’ probation on his conviction for willful failure to pay over taxes, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

United States District Judge Joy Flowers Conti imposed the sentence yesterday on William J. Houser, Jr., 59. The court ordered that the first 24 weekends, and one week each year, of the five-year term of probation be served in a community confinement center. The court also sentenced Houser to pay $1,128,660 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

According to information presented to the court, Houser, a licensed medical doctor and practitioner in Youngstown, Ohio, was required to withhold monies from the paychecks of his employees to cover their individual income, Social Security, and Medicare tax obligations, referred to as trust fund monies, and to remit the trust fund monies to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on a quarterly basis. He was also required to pay over to the IRS matching contributions for Social Security and Medicare, commonly known as employment taxes. Houser failed to pay over both employment and trust fund taxes during the period September 2009 through December 2014. Houser also failed to file personal tax returns and pay income taxes for the years 2010 through 2014. Failure to pay the required taxes resulted in a total tax loss to the IRS of more than $899,269.

Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

The Internal Revenue Service conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Houser.