Brian E. Drake, Tax Evasion, West Virginia 2023

Brian E. Drake, 56, of Parkersburg, was sentenced to two years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,036,141.59 in restitution for tax evasion.

Drake, the owner and operator of River City Chem Dry (RCCD), admitted to evading payroll and corporate income taxes from at least 2008 and continuing through 2021.

As an employer, Drake had a legal responsibility to collect and pay over to the IRS payroll taxes withheld from his employees’ wages and complete and file IRS Form 941. He also knew that after he reorganized RCCD as a C corporation in 2012, he was required to pay corporate income taxes on earned income and complete and file IRS Form 1120 on behalf of RCCD every year.

Drake admitted that he willfully evaded payment of $299,765 in payroll taxes, including federal taxes and the employer-due portion of Social Security and Medicare, for reported wages paid to RCCD employees from at least 2016 through 2019.

He further admitted that he evaded the assessment of $347,054.87 in payroll taxes by routinely paying RCCD employees substantially in cash from at least 2017 and continuing through 2021. Employees would receive paychecks reflecting a portion of their hourly wages and withheld taxes each payday along with envelopes containing cash for the hours they worked for which no federal taxes were withheld or paid over to the IRS.

The $2,036,141.59 in court-ordered restitution reflects Drake’s unpaid taxes, interest, and penalties.

United States Attorney Will Thompson said, “The defendant has a long and repeated history of failing to pay personal and business taxes that has persisted from 2005 until now. The transferring of assets and attempts to conceal income show that his actions were not a series of neglectful mistakes, but willful, intentional, and deliberate conduct.”

United States District Judge Irene C. Berger imposed the sentence, with Assistant United States Attorneys Erik S. Goes and Ryan Blackwell prosecuting the case.

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