Southeast Montana News

MISSOULA — The owner of a Bozeman construction company who admitted to not paying employee-related taxes of more than $800,000 to the IRS was sentenced today to federal prison and fined $75,000, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

The defendant, Joseph Glen Dickey, 39, owner of Alpine Customs, Inc., pleaded guilty in April to failure to truthfully account for and pay over withholding and FICA taxes, a felony, and failure to file an employer’s quarterly return and pay tax, a misdemeanor.

U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen sentenced Dickey to one year and one day in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The court also fined him $75,000 and ordered $270,807 restitution, which is the remaining amount owed after Dickey repaid some of his outstanding balance prior to sentencing.

The government alleged in court documents that Dickey owns Alpine Customs, Inc., a commercial construction company that has employed 60 or more individuals. Dickey acted as Alpine’s general manager and exercised control over every aspect of the business, including approving company payments and overseeing company bank accounts. Alpine withheld payroll taxes from employees’ paychecks, including federal income taxes and Social Security and Medicare taxes. Alpine also was required to make quarterly deposits of those payroll taxes and additional employer payroll contributions to the IRS.

Dickey did not timely deposit several employee or employer payroll taxes from 2018 to 2021. Dickey knew of the requirements and his bookkeepers and IRS officers repeatedly advised him of these legal obligations. In total, Dickey failed to timely pay $803,374 in employer and employee payroll taxes.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation.

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