Palm Beach contractors David and Gonzalez get prison time

By Palm Beach Business.com

WEST PALM BEACH — Two Palm Beach County contractors are headed for prison for their part in a scheme to hire illegal aliens and avoid paying payroll taxes and workers comp premiums.

Federal Judge Kenneth A. Marra sentenced John M. David to 16 months and Juan A. Gonzalez to 10 months. David, president of Sun Deck Concrete Inc., and Gonzalez, also with the company, must serve two years of supervised release plus jointly pay about $480,000 in restitution.

Both David and Gonzalez pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in June.

According to court documents, in the early 2000s, Sun Deck’s business began to grow and the company needed more workers to meet the demand. Sun Deck began hiring undocumented workers, many of whom were Honduran and Mexican nationals who were living in the United States illegally.

To conceal the scheme, David and Gonzalez paid these workers through a series of shell companies set up to appear as labor services firms complete with bank accounts, tax ID numbers and even fraudulent workers comp insurance policies. Federal authorities alleged, however, that these shell companies performed no legitimate functions.

Prosecutors said that Sun Deck to paid the illegal workers more than $2 million in wages during 2005 and 2006, defrauding the IRS of more then $316,000 in pay roll taxes and nearly $164,000 in workers comp premiums.