A North Carolina businessman was recently sentenced to 15 months in prison for failing to pay over employment taxes, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Sandra Hairston for the Middle District of North Carolina.

According to court documents, Paul Harvey Boone, 54, of Hillsborough, North Carolina, owned and operated Boone Audio Inc. in Burlington, North Carolina. For most of 2008 through 2011, Boone used company funds for personal expenses while failing to pay over the employment taxes withheld from his employees’ wages. Boone also failed to file his individual income tax returns and pay personal income taxes for tax years 2008 through 2011.

“Paul Boone’s prison sentence serves as a reminder to employers that willfully failing to comply with employment tax obligations is a crime,” said Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg. “We are committed to investigating, prosecuting and seeking incarceration of employers who use their employees’ funds to line their own pockets.”

“IRS – Criminal Investigation (CI) realizes the damaging consequences caused by Boone’s failure to pay over employment taxes,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael C. Daniels of IRS-CI. “It results in the loss of tax revenue to the U.S. government and in the loss of future social security or Medicare benefits for the employees. Those who fail to do so will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted.”

In addition to the term of prison imposed, Boone was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $385,610.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and Acting U.S. Attorney Hairston commended special agents of IRS-CI, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Lauren Castaldi and Nathan Brooks of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Anand Ramaswamy of the Middle District of North Carolina, who prosecuted the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.