PHILADELPHIA, PA – Donna Fecondo, 63, of Garnet Valley, PA, has been sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for failing to remit payroll taxes and not filing tax returns. United States District Court Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg also ordered Fecondo to pay restitution. The announcement came from United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero.
Fecondo admitted guilt in 2022, acknowledging her failure to remit approximately $600,000 in employment taxes to the IRS for the years indicated in the indictment, as well as her failure to file both corporate and personal income tax returns. As the president and sole owner of Joseph Silvestri & Son, a mushroom farm business in Garnet Valley, Fecondo was responsible for collecting and paying over employment taxes. Despite withholding taxes from employees’ wages, she did not forward these to the IRS.
From 2013 through 2016, Fecondo withheld but did not remit a total of approximately $1,255,068.94 in employment taxes. It was not until July 2017, after being contacted by the IRS regarding her failures, that she filed the overdue tax forms without remitting any of the owed taxes. Fecondo also failed to file her personal income tax returns for 2015 and 2016 and did not file corporate tax returns for JSSI for those years.
U.S. Attorney Romero emphasized the impact of Fecondo’s actions on honest taxpayers, especially during tax season, stating that her sentence serves as a stern warning against tax fraud. Fecondo’s nearly four-year sentence highlights the severe consequences of attempting to cheat the tax system.