Two Florida Business Owners Sentenced for Conspiring to Evade Over $2.5 Million in IRS Employment Taxes

Two Florida residents were sentenced today for conspiring to defraud the U.S. government by avoiding payroll taxes owed to the IRS.

The sentencing followed a lengthy investigation into their fraudulent activities, which spanned nearly a decade.

The Scheme Behind the Fraud

William Skaggs Jr., the owner of Nastar Roofing, a roofing company based in the Ft. Myers area, and Billie Adkison, the business’s office administrator, were both involved in a deliberate scheme to evade paying employment taxes.

Adkison was responsible for managing payroll, while Skaggs ran the company’s operations.

Between 2013 and 2023, the two masterminded a system where employees, including themselves, were paid in cash without withholding any required federal taxes like Social Security, Medicare, or federal income taxes.

This resulted in a significant loss for the IRS, as the company withdrew over $21 million from its accounts to pay employees in cash without reporting these wages.

False Tax Returns and Deceptive Practices

While Nastar sometimes used a payroll provider to issue nominal paychecks, the company never informed the provider about the cash payments.

Consequently, the payroll company filed false employment tax returns, omitting the cash wages from the reports sent to the IRS.

When the company handled its own tax filings, it continued the deception by failing to report the significant cash wages paid to employees.

Both Skaggs and Adkison knowingly signed these false tax returns, further contributing to the scheme. In total, their actions resulted in nearly $2.5 million in tax losses to the IRS.

Sentencing and Legal Consequences

For their roles in the conspiracy, Skaggs was sentenced to three years in prison, while Adkison received a sentence of one year and one day.

In addition to their prison terms, both individuals were ordered by U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell to serve three years of supervised release following their time in prison.

The court will determine the restitution amount at a later date.

Investigation and Prosecution

The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation division and prosecuted by Trial Attorney Kevin Schneider of the Tax Division, along with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Leeman and Benjamin Winter from the Middle District of Florida.

The Justice Department’s Tax Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida were instrumental in securing the convictions.

This sentencing serves as a reminder that the authorities remain vigilant in holding individuals accountable for tax evasion, especially when it comes to schemes that involve significant losses to the public treasury.