GRAND JUNCTION - Sergio Murillo, age 42, of Aurora, Colorado pled guilty to obstructing or impeding the due administration of the Internal Revenue Code on Feb. 22, 2018, before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Gordon P. Gallagher, who recommended that the U.S. District Court accept the plea. The guilty plea was announced by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado and IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Steven Osborne. Murillo was previously indicted by a federal grand jury in Grand Junction on April 6, 2017, for tax evasion. As part of his change of plea, Murillo agreed to be charged by information and plead guilty to the charge of obstructing or impeding the due administration of the Internal Revenue Code.
According to the information and plea agreement, Sergio Murillo owned and was the sole proprietor of Mountain High Window Cleaning, which cleaned windows, removed snow and provided a few other real estate related services in Colorado. From 2007 through 2010, Murillo instructed Mountain High’s clients to make checks payable in his name rather than making them payable to Mountain High. He then deposited most of the checks into bank accounts under his name, as opposed to a bank account in the name of his business. For these same calendar years, he filed personal tax returns that did not report his true income. During audits, Murillo falsely told an IRS Revenue Agent that his clients determined whether to make checks payable to Mountain High or to him, and he also falsely told another Revenue Agent that all of Mountain High’s income was deposited into one bank account and he had no other bank accounts.
On Feb. 22, 2018, Murillo admitted in his plea agreement that the total tax loss stemming from his conduct is $188,578, plus interest.
Murillo is scheduled to be sentenced on May 7, 2018, at 9:00 a.m.
This case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Hautzinger is prosecuting this matter for the United States.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
