Berkeley Building Contractor Sentenced To Prison

BERKELEY, CA — A Berkeley contractor who kept taxes withheld from his employees' wages was sentenced to one year in prison, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Larry Kudsk was sentenced for willfully failing to account for and pay the taxes, and was ordered to pay $244,973 in restitution, according to a statement from Ismail Ramsey, the U.S. Attorney for Northern California, and Darren Lian, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge.

Kudsk operated two construction businesses, Kudsk Construction, Inc., and M. Gutierrez, Inc., that were general contractors or subcontractors on various projects, including some for the government, according to the announcement.

Kudsk was responsible for collecting and paying taxes withheld from employees' wages to the IRS, but didn't file tax returns or pay the withholdings for M. Gutierrez for 2014 — nor for the last three quarters of 2015 — as well as for Kudsk Construction, Inc. for 2016, the authorities said.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White ordered Kudsk to serve three years of supervised release.

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