Businessman fined $1.2m, sent to jail for stealing employees' tax contributions

The owner of a commercial cleaning company has been sentenced to 18 months in jail and ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution after pleading guilty to withholding employees' tax contributions from the government. 

Jeffrey Minner, 55, was the operator of janitorial service companies J.E.M. Enterprises, Inc., Service Master and Advanced Enterprises, Inc. In March, he pleaded guilty to failure to pay over payroll taxes, admitting to withholding employees tax contributions for his own benefit. 

"His conduct represents the quintessential crime of greed," the sentencing memorandum signed by Assistant United States Attorney Alexander P. Ibrahim, arguing for a two-year prison sentence. 

The crimes he pleaded to involve Advanced Enterprises, Inc., which employed up to 185 employees. During 2011 through 2016, Minner withheld taxes from his employees but failed to pay that money over to the Internal Revenue Service, court documents state. 

The sentencing suggestion by federal prosecutors said other businesses "tightened their budgets" during the financial market crash of 2008, but Minner "relied on the government to finance his luxurious lifestyle."

It stated Minner lived in a 4,175 square-foot residence that "could only properly be called a mansion," was able to afford a beach home worth over $2 million, acquired a 28-foot boat, a Porche and a 1960s Corvette. 

In his address to the court, Minner blamed the financial crash for his decisions and told the court about his volunteer work and contributions to young children, the ill, veterans and the poor. 

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.