A Nash County businessman pleaded guilty Friday in Wake County Superior Court to tax charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.
Shawn M. Dwyer, 47, of 205 South First Street, Nashville, pleaded guilty on April 12, 2019 to three counts of Willful Failure to File Return, Supply Information, or Pay Tax.
Superior Court Judge Vince Rozier sentenced Dwyer to a consolidated 45-day prison term. The sentence was suspended and Dwyer was placed on supervised probation for 18 months. Dwyer was also ordered to pay a fine of $1,500.00, and perform 100 hours of community service within the first twelve months of probation.
Information presented in court showed that Dwyer was the President and Operations Manager at Laneco Custom Builders, LLC in Nashville, NC, and earned approximately $225,000.00 in income during 2011 that required him to file a 2011 North Carolina Individual Income Tax Return. In other business matters, Dwyer was the operator of the Nashville Exchange restaurant, and withheld income taxes from his employees’ wages during 2013 and 2014, but willfully failed to file and remit the North Carolina withholding tax liability to the North Carolina Department of Revenue, which totaled approximately $2,606.00 in 2013 and $1,279.00 in 2014. Dwyer paid restitution prior to the plea.
The charges against Dwyer resulted from an investigation by special agents with the Department’s Criminal Investigations Section in Raleigh and was prosecuted by the Special Prosecution’s attorneys in the office of the Attorney General.