Joshua S. Levy, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts
Richard Cooper, a paving contractor from Billerica, has been sentenced for tax evasion in a case involving significant underreporting of income. On January 30, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper sentenced the 71-year-old to six months in prison and two years of supervised release. Additionally, Cooper must pay $989,819 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
Cooper's guilty plea came in October 2024 to four counts of tax evasion. The charges stemmed from activities between 2017 and 2020 where he deposited customer payments into his company's bank accounts while also cashing over $5.1 million in customer checks separately. This omission led to tax returns that significantly understated his business's gross receipts, allowing him to retain more than $1.1 million owed in federal and state taxes.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Thomas Demeo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation's Boston Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kriss Basil handled the prosecution as Deputy Chief of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit.
