A Bishop, California, home care business owner was sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison.
Shane Brightpath Mike – the owner of a Campbell, California-based company Excel Behavioral Services Inc. – received this penalty for failing to pay the payroll taxes withheld from his employees' wages.
In addition to owning the company, Mike was also President and Chief Operating Officer of Excel Behavioral Services. In these roles, Mike was responsible for withholding Social Security, Medicare and income taxes from workers' wages. He was also responsible for transferring these funds to the IRS.
According to the DOJ, Mike allegedly failed to pay withheld taxes to the IRS in the fourth quarter of 2014 and the third quarter of 2015.
Additionally, Mike did not pay some of the withheld funds until the third quarter of 2014.
In total, Mike is said to have failed to pay more than $1 million in taxes to the IRS during these years. Instead, part of the company's funds during this period went to his personal expenses.
U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman included three years of supervised release in Mike's sentencing. He must also restitution $1,177,947 to the United States and pay a special assessment of $100.
His sentence is scheduled to begin on March 18, 2025. His case was investigated by IRS-CI, the criminal investigation division of the IRS.
Recently, another California-based owner-operator was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of health care fraud.
Veronica Katz, the owner and operator of San Francisco-based HealthNow Home Healthcare and Hospice (HealthNow), also must pay $543,634.34 in restitution. She also received three years of supervised release and must pay a $50,000 fine.
Katz will begin her sentence on January 6, 2025.