HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Putnam County business owner pleaded guilty to employment tax crimes, causing a tax loss exceeding $250,000 to the IRS.
Dean E. Dawson, 65, of Hurricane, West Virginia, pleaded guilty to one count of willful failure to pay over employment taxes on behalf of his business, RPC Group LLC.
Between 2015 and 2022, Dawson willfully failed to pay over to the IRS the employment taxes withheld from his employees’ paychecks, using the business accounts to pay for personal expenses, including personal credit cards and his wife’s home mortgage, and issued checks to his wife from RPC Group even though she was not an employee of the business.
Dawson also did not file personal tax returns or pay income taxes from 2018 to 2023. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
Dawson is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23, 2025. The Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) is investigating the case, and the United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the hearing.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly and Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston made the announcement. Trial Attorneys Brian E. Flanagan and Rebecca A. Caruso of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan T. Storage for the Southern District of West Virginia are prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia, and related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:24-cr-120.
Related Federal Cases
- Jay D Dehaven, Tax Evasion, West Virginia 2016 · Alabama
- Cindy Shearer, Wire Fraud and Filing False Income Tax Return, West Virginia 2013 · Maryland
- Matthew Swartz, Payroll Tax Evasion, West Virginia 2020 · Washington
- Kim Cooper, Wire Fraud and Tax Evasion, West Virginia 2023 · New Hampshire
- Michael Taylor, Tax Evasion, West Virginia 2016 · Alabama
Key Facts
- State: West Virginia
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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