Pueblo man ordered to spend year in prison, pay $550k in restitution for tax evasion

A Pueblo man has been sentenced to a year in federal prison and ordered to pay nearly $550,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to tax evasion.

Solomon Paul Garcia, 46, was sentenced Aug. 28 to one year and one day in prison followed by three years of supervised release, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.

Garcia worked for various employers as a journeyman electrical lineman from 2016 to January 2020, during which he “willfully avoided paying a substantial amount of income tax” by submitting inaccurate W-4 forms to his employers, claiming up to 99 allowances or false claims of tax exemptions, according to the release.

During that time, Garcia was only allowed to claim two allowances.

Because of his inflated exemptions, Garcia’s employers withheld little, if any, taxes from his earned income.

“Although the defendant had an opportunity to pay all taxes due and owing for each calendar year by the respective filing deadlines, he did not file a tax return for any of the years in question,” U.S. Attorney’s Office officials stated in the release. “This resulted in the evasion of $267,028.50 in federal taxes.”

Garcia was indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of tax evasion and four counts of failure to file a tax return in November 2023. He was sentenced Aug. 28 by U.S. District Court Judge Nina Y. Wang.

As part of his plea agreement, the court ordered Garcia to pay more than $548,000 in restitution, which includes interest and penalties calculated by the IRS.

“People who evade their taxes are stealing from all the other taxpayers who pay what they owe. Our office will continue to aggressively prosecute tax evaders,” Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Matt Kirsch said in the release.

“Falsifying Form W-4s and claiming up to 99 allowances to avoid paying taxes is not only a crime against the federal government, it also unfairly shifts the tax burden to honest taxpayers,” IRS Criminal Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge Tom Demeo said in the release. “Garcia brazenly attempted to avoid his tax liability and other tax cheats must understand these crimes carry with them severe consequences.”

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Chieftain Editor Zach Hillstrom can be reached at [email protected], or on X, at @ZachHillstrom. Support local news, subscribe to the Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo man gets year in jail, $550k restitution fine for tax evasion