A Dallas business owner has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for failing to pay over employment taxes that she withheld from her employees, according to an announcement by United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould.
Heaven Marie Diaz, 57, who owned and served as CEO of Pursuit of Excellence, a staffing company in Dallas, was indicted in 2023. In June 2025, a jury convicted her on five counts related to not paying trust fund taxes. On Monday, Senior U.S. District Judge David Godbey sentenced Diaz to 97 months in prison and ordered her to pay $799,033.47 in restitution.
Court documents and trial evidence showed that between 2015 and 2017, Diaz withheld payroll taxes from employee paychecks but did not remit more than $3 million of those funds to the IRS as required by law. Testimony from former employees and her accountant indicated they repeatedly warned Diaz about her legal obligations regarding employment taxes. Despite these warnings, she continued withholding the money and kept it within company accounts.
Evidence presented at trial revealed that Diaz used some of the withheld funds for personal expenses such as international travel, luxury goods, and rent payments amounting to $10,000 per month for a home in Dallas’s Preston Hollow neighborhood.
U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould stated: “The defendant lied to her employees and embezzled employment taxes due to greed. The substantial prison sentence of eight years reflects the seriousness of the offense and the collaborative investigative work by our AUSAs and IRS-CI. We will continue to fully pursue these offenses to protect the federal fisc and ensure that tax dollars are being spent as intended instead of to fund a defendant’s lavish lifestyle.”
Special Agent in Charge Christopher J. Altemus Jr., representing the IRS Criminal Investigation Dallas Field Office, said: “Heaven Diaz stole from her employees and the American taxpayer to fund a lifestyle she didn’t earn. She ignored repeated warnings, misused her position, and treated trust fund taxes like a personal bank account. Today’s sentencing is the result of IRS-CI’s relentless investigative work. The women and men of IRS-CI will continue working to uphold trust in the tax system and support those who do the right thing.”
The investigation was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan P. Niedermair and Joshua D. Detzky prosecuted the case.
