U.S. Attorney Carla B. Freedman | U.S. Department of Justice
Barbara DeYear, a 67-year-old business owner from Lorraine, New York, has been indicted on 13 counts of tax fraud. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Harry Chavis, Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office for the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).
The indictment accuses DeYear, who is the co-owner and president of Independent Commercial Contractors, Inc., based in Jefferson County. The company specializes in construction, demolition, and asbestos removal work. It is alleged that she withheld over $135,000 in employment taxes from her employees' paychecks between 2019 and 2022 but failed to remit these withholdings to the IRS as required by law.
Additionally, the indictment claims that DeYear did not file quarterly tax returns for Independent Commercial Contractors from 2015 through 2022. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she allegedly applied for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan using fraudulent "file copies" of two tax returns that purportedly showed tax payments on behalf of her corporation. However, neither these returns nor payments were sent to the IRS.
If convicted of these felony charges, DeYear faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison per count along with fines up to $250,000 per count and up to three years of supervised release. Sentencing will be determined by a judge based on specific statutes violated and other factors outlined in U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
DeYear appeared today before United States Magistrate Judge Miroslav Lovric in Binghamton, New York. She was released pending a trial scheduled later this year before Senior United States District Court Judge David N. Hurd in Utica, New York.
It is important to note that these charges are accusations at this stage; DeYear is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The case investigation is being conducted by IRS-CI with Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael F. Perry prosecuting.
