Date: June 3, 2022 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov United States Attorney Richard G. Frohling announced that on March 29, 2022, an information was filed charging Richard Pignotti, Richard Milkie, and Jeffrey Milkie, each of Kenosha, Wisconsin, with conspiring to under-report income derived from their business in order to pay less federal tax, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. Separate plea agreements were also filed, in which each defendant agreed to waive indictment by the grand jury and enter a guilty plea to the charge in the information. On separate dates in May 2022, each defendant entered a plea of guilty to the charge in the information. According to court filings, the defendants jointly operated a roofing business and agreed to not deposit all payments for completed jobs into their business bank account, and they further agreed to not report all of their business's earnings to the accountant who prepared their business and personal tax returns. These actions caused the defendants and their business to pay fewer federal taxes in 2015, 2016, and 2017 than they actually owed by virtue of their business's actual earnings revenue. In total, as a result of their conspiracy, they underpaid $321,192 in federal taxes. Each defendant faces a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, or both. The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Pamela Pepper on separate dates in September and October of 2022. This matter was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, and has been assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Stephen A. Ingraham for prosecution.
