Date: September 19, 2023 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that John M. Williams (St. Augustine) has pleaded guilty to failing to account for, and pay over to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), income taxes, Medicare taxes, and Social Security taxes (also known as payroll taxes) that had been withheld from employees' pay. Williams faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not been set. According to the plea agreement, in 2012, Williams became an owner, operator, and a corporate officer of First Coast Exteriors, Inc, a stucco application and home building business. He controlled the company's financial affairs and almost all checks drawn on its corporate checking account, including paychecks, were signed by him. As an owner and corporate officer with control of the company's payroll and finances, Williams had a duty to collect payroll taxes from the taxable wages of his employees. Each quarter, he also had duties both to account for, and to pay over to the IRS, those payroll taxes. An examination of Form W-2s filed for First Coast Exteriors employees showed that during the financial quarter ending March 31, 2013, through the quarter ending December 31, 2018, First Coast Exteriors withheld payroll taxes from its employees' wages. IRS records show, however, that Williams did not account for these withholdings in Form 941 quarterly tax returns or pay these funds over to the IRS when the returns and payments were due. Between 2013 and 2018, Williams's actions resulted in unpaid payroll taxes of approximately $306,500. During this same period, Williams also did not pay the IRS the employer's matching share of Social Security and Medicare taxes, which totaled an additional $128,943. First Coast Exteriors was not the only company that Williams operated that was delinquent in paying its payroll taxes. Records show beginning in 1995, he operated a business called W.W. Contractors, Inc. For the 13 financial quarters between 2009 and 2012, W.W. Contractors filed Form 941 quarterly returns, but only made partial or late payments of payroll taxes withheld and owed to the IRS. "Sadly, our agents investigate cases like these far too frequently," said Brian Payne, special agent in charge of the IRS-CI Tampa Field Office. "Business owners need to know that we will investigate tax cheats to ensure they are held accountable for their dishonorable actions. In this case, the defendant cheated both our federal tax system, and simply stole from his employees hard-earned employment benefits." This case was investigated by IRS – Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Coolican.
