Defendant avoided paying approximately 3 million dollars in taxes to IRS Date: July 27, 2023 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov The former owner of a general contracting business based in South Boston and Quincy has been charged and has agreed to plead guilty to concealing business income from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). John Michael Sacco, formerly of Quincy, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of tax evasion. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court. According to the charging documents, Sacco managed construction projects under the name JMS Contracting. It is alleged that, from 2014 through 2021, Sacco received over $9 million from JMS's customers. Rather than depositing JMS's gross receipts into business bank accounts, Sacco allegedly cashed most checks from customers, used proceeds to purchase supplies and pay subcontractors in cash, and retained remaining cash to pay personal expenses. Sacco allegedly failed to issue required tax forms to its subcontractors and failed to file required forms with the IRS with respect to amounts that JMS paid to its subcontractors. By not reporting JMS's actual receipts on tax returns that he filed for certain years and by filing no tax returns in other years, Sacco underreported his personal income tax obligations, causing a loss to the IRS of over $3 million. The charge of tax evasion provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case. Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Holcomb of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case. The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
