David Stone
Introduction
David Stone, the owner of a Texas construction company, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for obstructing the IRS’s efforts to collect unpaid employment taxes on behalf of the business he owned and operated. Stone, who owned Engineered Metals Company, a roofing, siding, and sheet metal business, had pleaded guilty to one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the due administration of the internal revenue laws. In addition to the term of imprisonment, he was ordered to serve one year of supervised release and to pay approximately $1,384,766 in restitution to the United States. His obstructive conduct persisted from 2013 through 2024 and caused a total tax loss of approximately $1.4 million.
Background Information
Stone owned and operated Engineered Metals Company, a roofing, siding, and sheet metal business based in Texas. As its owner, he was responsible for collecting employment taxes on behalf of the company’s employees and paying those taxes over. According to court documents and statements made in court, Stone willfully failed to pay over employment taxes he had collected on behalf of his employees, leaving the debt unpaid. That willful failure triggered the government’s response: the IRS began collection proceedings against Stone to recover the delinquent employment taxes on behalf of the United States.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Convicted and sentenced.
The core of the case was the employment-tax delinquency. According to court documents and statements made in court, David Stone willfully failed to pay over employment taxes he had collected on behalf of the employees of Engineered Metals Company, the roofing, siding, and sheet metal business he owned and operated. Those taxes were collected on behalf of employees, and the willful failure to pay them over set the entire case in motion. As a result of that willful failure, the IRS began collection proceedings against Stone — the first step in an obstruction course that would stretch across more than a decade.
What escalated the matter was what Stone did once collection began. Knowing the IRS was attempting to collect the tax delinquency, Stone stopped filing individual income tax returns and used business accounts to pay personal expenses, such as child support and alimony, to keep funds out of his own hands and conceal his income from the IRS. The obstructive actions persisted from 2013 through 2024 and caused a total tax loss to the United States of approximately $1.4 million.
The case concluded with a plea and a prison sentence. Stone previously pleaded guilty to one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the due administration of the internal revenue laws. At sentencing, he received 30 months in prison, a term of one year of supervised release, and an order to pay approximately $1,384,766 in restitution to the United States — a restitution figure that tracks the roughly $1.4 million tax loss his conduct caused.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The sentence was announced by Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons of the Western District of Texas. IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case, and Trial Attorney Caroline Pearson of the Fraud Division’s Tax Section prosecuted it. The announcement situates the case within the department’s newer enforcement structure: on April 7, the Justice Department announced the creation of the Fraud Division, which it describes as laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people, in support of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance.
Current Status
Stone’s case is resolved on the merits: he pleaded guilty and has been sentenced. The sentence imposes 30 months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release, and requires payment of approximately $1,384,766 in restitution to the United States. The restitution obligation addresses the roughly $1.4 million in taxes lost through obstructive conduct that persisted from 2013 through 2024. No further charges or proceedings are noted in the announcement; what remains is the execution of the prison term, the supervised release that follows it, and repayment of the restitution owed to the government.
Impact on Their Career/Life
The owner of a Texas roofing, siding, and sheet metal business will spend two and a half years in federal prison, and his obligations will outlast the custody term: one year of supervised release and approximately $1,384,766 in restitution to the United States. The conduct that produced the sentence — willfully failing to pay over employment taxes, then concealing income through business accounts used for child support and alimony while individual filings stopped — ran from 2013 through 2024 and cost the government approximately $1.4 million. His guilty plea to corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the internal revenue laws now stands as the settled resolution of the matter.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Justice, “Owner of Construction Company Sentenced to Prison for Obstructing IRS Efforts to Collect $1.4M in Unpaid Taxes”, October 29, 2026 — source