Sedalia Construction Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Failure to Pay Employment Tax

A Sedalia business owner pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to failing to pay nearly $136,000 in employment taxes he withheld from his employee’s paychecks.

Floyd H. Kronk III, 48, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Willie J. Epps, Jr., to federal information that charges him with failure to pay employment tax.

Kronk started a construction company, Transition Construction, in 2010. About 95 percent of Transition’s revenues came from Furnell Companies, a Sedalia-based firm that owns and operates a hotel and various assisted living facilities throughout Missouri.

Transition Construction,  32070 Hill Lane, did most of the construction and renovating work relative to Furnell’s properties in Missouri.

Kronk retained anywhere from six to 15 employees to carry out that construction work. He withheld their designated federal income tax withholdings from their paychecks, as well as Social Security and Medicare taxes, which he was then supposed to forward to the IRS each month. Kronk admitted today that he did not file timely federal employment tax returns, nor did he deposit any part of the trust fund taxes he withheld from his employees. Instead, he retained those withholdings for his personal benefit.

Kronk withheld $135,785 from his employees’ paychecks from 2014 through 2017, which he kept for his personal benefit.

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Kronk also admitted that he was non-compliant with his individual federal income tax filings and payment of those liabilities.

According to Friday’s plea agreement, his returns for 2014 through 2017 were all filed delinquently, and with no accompanying payment. The total tax loss is $135,785 from 2014 to 2017, and $69,280 for relevant conduct for 2011 to 2013, for a total amount of $205,066.

Under federal statutes, Kronk is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley S. Turner and was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.