Guilford Business Owner Sentenced For Tax Offense: Feds

GUILFORD, CT — A Guilford business owner was sentenced Wednesday to 19 months in prison for failing to pay more than a million dollars in business payroll taxes, according to a news release from Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

Michelle Ann Gilson, 38, of Guilford, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver in Hartford. She's currently released on bond, and is required to report to prison on Dec. 4.

Following her sentence, Gilson must serve three years of supervised release.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Gilson co-owned and co-operated B&M Package Solutions, Inc. and formerly owned and operated Epic Empirez, Inc., both Guilford-based package delivery companies.

Avery said Gilson was responsible for company books, payroll, and invoices, and for collecting and paying over certain federal taxes from her employees, namely federal income taxes and Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) taxes, which include Medicare and Social Security taxes. She was also responsible for ensuring that B&M Package Solutions and Epic Empirez, as employers, paid their own share of FICA taxes.

"An investigation revealed that, for multiple quarters during the 2017 through 2022 tax years, Gilson failed to report employees’ federal income and FICA taxes, and failed to pay over withheld amounts and the employers’ share of FICA taxes," Avery said in a news release. "During this time, Gilson paid more than $600,000 in mortgage payments and property improvements to her Guilford home, and made approximately $140,000 in payments to casino resorts."

Judge Oliver ordered Gilson to pay the IRS restitution of $1.4 million.

In 2020, Avery noted, Gilson applied for a government loan through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was authorized by Congress as part of the March 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of the PPP application, Gilson attested that B&M Package Solutions paid payroll taxes for its employees, Avery said. In July 2020, Gilson received $250,000 in PPP funds, and the PPP loan was subsequently forgiven.

Gilson pleaded guilty to willful failure to pay over withholding taxes in July of this year.