URBANA, Ill. – A Charleston man was sentenced on November 21, 2022, to six months of imprisonment for failing to pay employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.
According to the States Attorney, on June 7, 2021, Fisher pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long to collecting employment taxes from his employees, which included taxes for his employees’ Social Security and Medicare payments, but then failing to turn over those taxes, or pay the employer’s portion of those taxes, to the IRS.
At the time of his plea, Fisher admitted that he had failed to pay those taxes from at least 2014 through 2018, as well as to file a personal federal income tax return or pay his own personal income taxes to the IRS during those years, and agreed to pay full restitution to the IRS within thirty days of sentencing.
Court records show the government presented evidence at the sentencing hearing establishing that Fisher was the sole owner of Financial Logic, Inc., a commercial insurance agency located in Mattoon, Illinois, and employed several individuals.
The State's Attorney says Fisher failed to pay either employment taxes or personal federal income taxes from at least 2013 through 2018, totaling a tax loss of $866,838.
U.S. District Court Judge Colin S. Bruce rejected Fisher’s request for probation, and discussed the seriousness of Fisher’s crime, noting that Fisher would carry the “disgrace” of his actions.
Judge Bruce ordered Fisher to begin serving his prison sentence on February 28, 2023. In addition to the sentence of imprisonment, Fisher has been orderd to serve three years of supervised release following his release from custody and to pay full restitution to the IRS.
Fisher paid most of the restitution just before the sentencing hearing, the plea agreement permits him another thirty days to pay the outstanding restitution amount of approximately $125,000.
The statutory penalties for failing to pay employment taxes are up to five years of imprisonment, three years of supervised release, full restitution, and a $10,000 fine.
