Bethel bookkeeper sentenced to 13 months for tax fraud

Melissa Pezzolo, a former office manager and bookkeeper for Miracle Farms Nursery in Bethel, was sentenced to 13 months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release for tax offenses.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Pezzolo was responsible for managing her employer”™s books and invoices for nearly 20 years, paying the company”™s bills, and handling the company”™s payroll and employment tax obligations. She also was responsible for coordinating with the company”™s tax return preparer who prepared the yearly filed corporate tax returns.

However, around 2014 and continuing through 2018, Pezzolo intentionally stopped filing employment tax returns and failed to make any related payments of withholding taxes on behalf of the company. But she continued to distribute paychecks to employees that withheld employees”™ income and FICA taxes. She accounted for the withholdings on the employees”™ annual W-2 forms, which she continued to issue, though she did not provide the W-2 forms or pay the related withholding taxes to the IRS or the Social Security Administration. She also failed to pay the company”™s own share of FICA taxes.

With respect to her own withholdings, Pezzolo neither withheld nor paid her withholding taxes to the IRS, nor issued herself any W-2 forms between approximately 2010 and 2018.

Pezzolo admitted that she also stole more than $400,000 from her employer by giving herself unauthorized raises and paying personal expenses via the company”™s corporate bank account and company credit card.

Pezzolo was ordered by the court to pay to the IRS restitution of $1.32 million, which reflects $1.17 million in unpaid company payroll taxes and $158,322 in unpaid personal income taxes for the 2014 through 2018 tax years.

Pezzolo pleaded guilty in January to one count of willful failure to collect or pay over tax and one count of tax evasion of assessment. She is free on bond and is required to report to prison on Aug. 1.