Michael Taylor, 48, and Jeanette Taylor, 44, of Wayne County, West Virginia, are behind bars after stealing $1.4 million in payroll taxes from their employees and the federal government. The construction business owners used withheld wages meant for the IRS to fund a horse farm and buy real estate, leaving workers exposed and Uncle Sam holding the bag.
The Taylors owned and operated a series of companies—Taylor Contracting & Taylor Ready-Mix LLC, later renamed Taylor Contracting/Taylor Ready-Mix LLC, and finally Bluegrass Aggregates—running a steel transport, gravel, and concrete business across West Virginia and Kentucky from 1999 to 2010. Despite collecting over $850,000 in federal income, Social Security, and Medicare withholdings from employee paychecks between July 2007 and 2010, they funneled the cash into personal ventures instead of paying the IRS.
Worse still, they failed to remit another $490,000 in employment taxes from their earlier operations. The total tax loss: $1.4 million. The couple didn’t just dodge taxes—they betrayed the trust of their workers while living off funds they had no right to touch.
On October 18, 2016, Michael Taylor pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States for his role in the payroll tax scheme spanning mid-2007 through 2010. Jeanette Taylor admitted to one count of failing to pay over payroll taxes for the final quarter of 2009. Both faced the consequences in court before Chief U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers of the Southern District of West Virginia.
Michael Taylor was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $1,440,130 in restitution. Jeanette Taylor received 27 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and must pay $766,273 jointly and severally with her husband to the IRS. The longer sentence reflects her direct accountability for the final, unremitted tax quarter.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg and U.S. Attorney Carol Casto credited the investigation to IRS-Criminal Investigation, with prosecution handled by Tax Division attorneys Mara Strier and Alexander Effendi. The case stands as a warning: stealing from employee withholdings isn’t creative accounting—it’s a crime, and federal time awaits those who treat payroll taxes as personal piggy banks.
RELATED: Michael and Jeanette Taylor Guilty in $1.4M Tax Fraud
Related Federal Cases
Key Facts
- State: West Virginia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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