MADISON, WI (WSAU) — A Wisconsin Rapids business owner has been sentenced for evading taxes in 2013.
Russell Broga, age 51, of Wisconsin Rapids, was sentenced to 2 years probation and fined $150,000 for evading taxes in 2013 for his business.
Broga’s business A-1 Services Wisconsin Rapids, LLC offered several services like asphalt paving, asphalt maintenance, tree removal, and tree transplanting. At a plea hearing in October, Broga admitted to depositing customer checks into his personal bank account instead of the business account. He also withheld the receipts from his bookkeeper for three years of taxes, 2012, 2013, and 2014.
The taxes evaded for that year totaled $147,682. Broga paid back that amount to the government at the time of his plea hearing.
At the sentencing, Judge James Peterson said a prison sentence for Broga wasn’t in the interest of protecting the safety and property of the community due to Broga’s health issues. He did say that Broga’s crimes usually deserves a prison sentence. And that it’s no different morally than a car theft or a drug dealer. He also felt Broga deserved a punitive sentence which was achieved with the 2-year probation and $150,000 fine.
The court hopes the sentence sends a message to the community that tax evasion will cost double the original amount in back taxes and fines.
