Mark Stinson, a former Memphis staffing company owner, was sentenced to 75 months in federal prison for stealing $2.8 million in payroll taxes from his employees and the IRS. The sentencing, handed down today by U.S. District Judge John T. Fowlkes, Jr., marks the end of a decade-long fraud scheme that gutted worker withholdings and mocked federal tax law.
Stinson, convicted in December 2017 after a jury trial, was found guilty of conspiring to defraud the United States, failing to pay over payroll taxes, filing false tax documents, theft of government funds, and aggravated identity theft. His wife, Jayton Stinson, who previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S., was sentenced to one year in prison. Both were ordered to pay $2.8 million in restitution and serve terms of supervised release.
From 2005 through 2015, the couple operated a temporary staffing company in Memphis that placed workers with businesses across Tennessee and beyond. Contracts clearly stated the company would withhold federal employment taxes and remit them to the IRS—but the Stinsons had no intention of complying. Instead, they siphoned off the withheld funds for personal luxuries, including a Mercedes-Benz, a Cadillac Escalade, mortgage payments, and private school tuition for their children.
To evade detection, the Stinsons repeatedly rebranded their operation—running it as Jayton Stinson Connex Staffing and Janitorial Service, Connexx Staffing Services LLC, Connexx Staffing Services, Inc., and Complete Employment Agency. Each name change followed mounting tax debt, allowing them to ghost past liabilities while continuing the same fraudulent business model.
The couple also waged a coordinated campaign to obstruct IRS collection efforts. They falsely named family members as company executives, placed ownership in the names of nominees with no real control, and misled agents about their operational involvement. They even set up sham payment plans to sidestep IRS levies on customer payments, all while living off stolen employee withholdings.
Mark Stinson went further, filing a fraudulent tax return for a relative that falsely claimed a dependent and triggered a refund he had no right to collect. He kept a substantial cut of that payout. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant credited IRS-Criminal Investigation for cracking the case, and praised prosecutors Damon Griffin and Trial Attorney Nathan Brooks for securing justice.
Related Federal Cases
- Kalena Winston Pleads Guilty to $70K Tax Fraud Scheme · Kansas
- Knoxville Couple Vargas, Ayala Jailed for $10M Tax Fraud · Tennessee
- Luis Carvajal, Amado Valdez-Morales Sentenced in $10.8M Tax Fraud · Tennessee
- Murfreesboro Woman Sentenced for Identity Theft Tax Fraud · Tennessee
- Scotty Lumley Extradited for Bank Fraud & Tax Fraud in Morocco · Utah
Key Facts
- State: Tennessee
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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