Joplin business owner sentenced for tax evasion

A former Joplin business owner was sentenced in federal court yesterday for tax evasion.

Robert Landis, 45, was sentenced to 37 months in prison and ordered to pay $6.26 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Landis owned temporary employment agencies Priority Personnel of Missouri and Priority Personnel of Kansas December 2003-June 2007. He also owned Loma Landis LLC, a business that managed villas and operated golf courses, for four years, until a lender foreclosed the villas.

The sentence follows Landis' Aug. 24 guilty plea, when he admitted he failed to truthfully account for or pay IRS payroll taxes deducted and withheld from paychecks of employees of Priority Personnel of Missouri.

The IRS incurred a tax loss of roughly $4.89 million, plus interest, which also includes relevant conduct from Landis' failure to collect, truthfully account for or pay payroll taxes for Priority Personnel of Kansas and Loma Landis, the release said.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Mohlhenrich and was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.[[In-content Ad]]