ALPINE A former Monahans businessman pleaded guilty on Tuesday to 12 counts of failure to pay withholding taxes, United State Department of Justice press release stated.
According to court documents, George Wayne Johnson, 73, of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., was the owner of Wayne’s Welding Services in Monahans. From 2015 to 2018, WWS withheld tax payments from its employees’ paychecks but failed to pay $1,308,797 in required payroll tax to the Internal Revenue Service. Through his company, Johnson spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on his salary and personal expenses.
Johnson faces a maximum penalty on each count of five years in prison, the press release stated. A sentencing date has not been set. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff of the Western District of Texas and IRS Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Goss, Houston Division, made the announcement. The IRS is investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Kennedy is prosecuting the case.
