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Press Release

Operator of Florida Labor Staffing Companies Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Tax and Immigration Charges

For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs

The operator of several Key West, Florida, labor staffing companies – including PSEB Specialty Service Inc., Perfect Service Excellent Benefits Services Inc., Starline Hospitality Inc., Norbert Janitorial Service Inc., E.S.F. Services Inc. and Expert Services F.S. Inc. – was sentenced today to four years in prison for tax and immigration-related crimes.

According to court documents and statements made in court, at various times between January 2011 and January 2021, Petr Sutka and others helped run a series of labor staffing companies that facilitated the employment in hotels, bars and restaurants in Key West and elsewhere of non-resident aliens who were not authorized to work in the United States. These labor staffing companies did not withhold federal income taxes and Social Security and Medicare taxes from these workers’ wages and did not report the wages to the IRS.

In addition to his prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Jose E. Martinez for the Southern District of Florida ordered Sutka to serve three years of supervised release and to pay $3,551,423.84 in restitution to the United States.

Sutka’s co-conspirators, Vasil Khatiashvili and Zdenek Strnad, are scheduled to be sentenced on April 22.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida made the announcement.

Homeland Security Investigations and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Senior Litigation Counsel Sean Beaty and Trial Attorneys Jessica A. Kraft, Nicholas J. Schilling Jr., Matthew C. Hicks and Wilson Rae Stamm of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Senior Litigation Counsel Christopher J. Clark for the Southern District of Florida prosecuted the case.

Updated March 19, 2024

Topic
Tax
Component
Press Release Number: 24-307