A federal jury has convicted Michael Roberts, 38, of Mentor, Ohio, of not paying required employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). According to court documents, Roberts was the executive director and co-owner of Progressive Alternatives, an in-home care business that served individuals with developmental disabilities throughout Lake and Ashtabula Counties. The business was initially purchased by Roberts’s spouse, Larry Keith Gildersleeve III, 43, also of Mentor, in February 2011. Within several years Roberts assumed responsibility for the business’s payroll and day-to-day financial operations, and he assumed the title of co-owner of the business beginning in 2014. Investigators found that Progressive Alternatives’ records showed that payroll checks issued by Roberts did reflect appropriate withholdings from employees’ wages. The withholdings were also reflected on W-2 forms that the employees received. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that Progressive Alternatives never filed W-2 forms for employees, nor did they submit any Form 941 with quarterly payments.
In late 2017, an employee who was preparing to retire was informed by the Social Security Administration that Progressive Alternatives had not paid required payroll taxes over to the IRS. Although Roberts was made aware of this and taxes were withheld from employee paychecks, he did not submit payments to the IRS. At trial, the defendant was determined to be guilty of not paying taxes for quarters ending Dec. 31, 2017, in the amount of $112,616.50, and March 31, 2018, in the amount of $114,070.75.
