The former chief financial officer of a Mississippi-based pipeline and construction company has been sentenced to serve two years in prison for an employment tax crime.
Julian Russ, a Houma, Louisiana native, was accused of willfully failing to report and pay IRS employment taxes withheld from employees’ paychecks while being employed as the CFO of Community Construction Company LLC in Hazelhurst.
According to court documents, Russ was responsible for collecting, accounting for, and paying the company’s taxes.
From at least 2012 to 2018, Russ did not file the company’s quarterly employment tax returns or pay the IRS the taxes withheld from employees’ wages, despite knowing of his legal obligation to do so.
In total, Russ caused a tax loss to the IRS of more than $6 million.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, Russ will serve three years of supervised release and pay $2,714,280.71 in restitution.
