WESTFIELD MAN SENTENCED FOR TAX CHARGES
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - A Westfield man was sentenced today in federal court for six counts of Failure to Pay Over and Account For Employment Taxes and three counts of Failure to File Tax Return.
STEPHEN BLANCHARD, 55, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael A. Ponsor to 18 months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $246,078.
Blanchard, who pleaded guilty in November 2010, withheld federal and state taxes from his employees’ paychecks in 2007 and 2008, but failed to pay over that money to the Internal Revenue Service. Blanchard also failed to file income tax returns for the years 2004, 2006, and 2008.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation - Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex J. Grant of Ortiz’s Springfield Branch Unit.
