Alaskan Commercial Fishing Couple Plead Guilty to Willful Failure to Pay Taxes on Income Earned from Fishing

Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced that an Alaskan couple pleaded guilty yesterday in Juneau for willfully failing to pay their individual income taxes.

Archie W. Demmert III, 57, and Roseann L. Demmert, 60, both of Klawock, Alaska, pleaded guilty yesterday before Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy M. burgess to two counts of willful failure to pay income tax.  As part of the plea agreement, the Demmerts have agreed to jointly pay restitution to the IRS, which will be determined at sentencing. 

According to court documents, Archie Demmert and Roseann Demmert both had commercial fishing permits for herring spawn on kelp, and Archie had an additional commercial fishing permit for a salmon purse seine.  The Demmerts admitted in court that they earned income from commercial fishing but willfully did not pay their taxes for 13 separate tax years, for which they owed over $300,000, excluding penalties and interest.

The sentencing hearings have been scheduled for Oct. 4, 2018.  The Demmerts each face a statutory maximum sentence of two years in prison, as well as a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) conducted the investigation which led to the charges in this case.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Steward and Trial Attorney Lori Hendrickson of the Tax Division.