Edmund J. Renaud, a former Olean businessman, was ordered Wednesday by Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny to serve 15 months in prison on his guilty plea to tax evasion charges. The 71-year-old Renaud, who could have been given a prison term of up to five years, pleaded guilty last Aug. 23.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gretchen L. Wylegala said Renaud failed to pay employment taxes from 2002 through 2008 for the businesses he then ran. In 2002 the IRS assessed him for more than $48,000 in unpaid federal payroll taxes on Southern Tier Moving and Storage Inc. which he was then running in Olean.
After he shut down that business, he ran Southern Tier Moving and Storage, LLC. until 2006, failing to pay more than $86,000 in federal payroll taxes for that business, the government said.
In 2007 Renaud agreed to an offer in compromise with the IRS for payment of only $1,500 on his payroll tax debt, officials said, but he provided the IRS with false information about his business activity in that deal, allegedly because he had become a heavy gambler, apparently losing even the nearly $100,000 he got in a Workman’s Compensation case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gretchen L. Wylegala said Renaud failed to pay employment taxes from 2002 through 2008 for the businesses he then ran. In 2002 the IRS assessed him for more than $48,000 in unpaid federal payroll taxes on Southern Tier Moving and Storage Inc. which he was then running in Olean.
After he shut down that business, he ran Southern Tier Moving and Storage, LLC. until 2006, failing to pay more than $86,000 in federal payroll taxes for that business, the government said.
In 2007 Renaud agreed to an offer in compromise with the IRS for payment of only $1,500 on his payroll tax debt, officials said, but he provided the IRS with false information about his business activity in that deal, allegedly because he had become a heavy gambler, apparently losing even the nearly $100,000 he got in a Workman’s Compensation case.