Story by: Clarissa Hawes @ FreightWaves.com

This isn’t the first time trucking company owner Gerstenberg has pleaded guilty to tax crimes. And he’s secured a new job at a New Jersey-based trucking company.

A Pennsylvania trucking company owner was sentenced to 18 months in prison for orchestrating an elaborate $750,000 tax fraud scheme, according to prosecutors.

Michael Gerstenberg, 51, of Emmaus, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on Dec. 13, after previously pleading guilty to willful failure to pay taxes and making false statements on July 3.

He must serve three years of supervised release once he finishes his prison sentence. He also has been ordered to repay more than $750,000 in employee payroll taxes he failed to turn over to the Internal Revenue Service.

“Instead of paying over employment taxes withheld from his employees’ wages, Mr. Gerstenberg used the money to fund his lavish lifestyle,” said Guy Ficco, IRS criminal investigation special agent in charge, in a statement. “He did so at the expense of his employees, robbing them of future Social Security and Medicare benefits.”

Gerstenberg declined to comment about his tax fraud conviction on Dec. 18 when contacted by FreightWaves. He’s currently working at a family-owned trucking company, Mid Atlantic Xpress of Hackettstown, New Jersey. The carrier has 24 trucks and the same number of drivers, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration SAFER website.

Read the full story HERE @ freightwaves.com

Source and credits: freightwaves.com / /  iTrucker  / Mario Pawlowski