Date: April 11, 2025
Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov
Akron, OH — A federal jury has convicted Michael Roberts of Mentor, Ohio, of not paying required employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). After a two-day trial, Roberts was found guilty on two counts of failure to account for and pay over taxes.
According to court documents, Roberts was the executive director and co-owner of Progressive Alternatives, an in-home care business that served individuals with developmental disabilities throughout Lake and Ashtabula Counties. The business was initially purchased by Roberts’s spouse, Larry Keith Gildersleeve III also of Mentor, in February 2011. Within several years Roberts assumed responsibility for the business’s payroll and day-to-day financial operations, and he assumed the title of co-owner of the business beginning in 2014.
Businesses are required to comply with IRS statutes and regulations such as withholding amounts for Social Security, Medicare taxes, and federal income taxes from employees’ gross pay. Employers typically hold these amounts in trust until they submit payments each quarter as required by federal law by using Form 941, “Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return.”
Investigators found that Progressive Alternatives’ records showed that payroll checks issued by Roberts did reflect appropriate withholdings from employees’ wages. The withholdings were also reflected on W-2 forms that the employees received. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that Progressive Alternatives never filed W-2 forms for employees, nor did they submit any Form 941 with quarterly payments.
In late 2017, an employee who was preparing to retire was informed by the Social Security Administration that Progressive Alternatives had not paid required payroll taxes over to the IRS. Although Roberts was made aware of this and taxes were withheld from employee paychecks, he did not submit payments to the IRS. At trial, the defendant was determined to be guilty of not paying taxes for quarters ending Dec. 31, 2017, in the amount of $112,616.50, and March 31, 2018, in the amount of $114,070.75.
Gildersleeve pleaded guilty Oct. 17, 2024, to eight counts of failure to account for and pay over taxes, including the two quarters for which Roberts was also found guilty of failing to pay. The remaining counts included the quarters ending June 30, 2018, in the amount of $114,070.75; Sept. 30, 2018, in the amount of $114,070.75; Dec. 31, 2018, in the amount of $114,070.75; March 31, 2019, in the amount of $41,356.00; June 30, 2019, in the amount of $41,356.00; and Sept. 30, 2019, in the amount of $41,356.00.
Roberts’ sentencing is scheduled for July 17, 2025. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Gildersleeve’s sentencing is scheduled for April 22, 2025, and he faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison.
A federal district court judge will determine each defendant’s sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erica D. Barnhill and Brett S. Hammond prosecuted the case for the Northern District of Ohio.
IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.