Attorney Sentenced, Ordered To Pay $227K For Tax Offenses: Feds

BETHANY, CT — An attorney from Bethany has been sentenced in connection with failing to pay all the federal income taxes he owed over several years, according to authorities. William S. Palmieri, 56, of Bethany, was sentenced Monday to three years of probation and must serve the first six months in home confinement, U.S. States Attorney for Connecticut John H. Durham announced.

Palmieri, an attorney with a practice specializing in civil rights law, was also ordered to perform 150 hours of community service. He is required to pay $141,474.53 in back taxes, and $86,234.47 in interest and penalties, totaling $227,709, according to authorities.

“Between 2006 and 2014, Palmieri reported to the IRS, but did not pay, all the income taxes he owed, even though he had the ability to make substantially greater tax payments during that time,” officials wrote in a news release. “The investigation also revealed that Palmieri used his attorney IOLTA bank account to pay various personal expenses, including his home mortgage and private school tuition payments.”

Palmieri pleaded guilty last December to two counts of willful failure to pay income taxes.