Design and Construction Report staff writer
AUSTIN, TX – The owner of an Austin-based roofing and construction business has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for a decade-long scheme to obstruct the Internal Revenue Service from collecting roughly $1.4 million in unpaid payroll taxes.
David Stone, owner and operator of Engineered Metals Company, received his sentence on Oct. 29. The sentencing follows his guilty plea in April 2026 to one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the due administration of the internal revenue laws.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice and court documents, Stone willfully failed to remit employment taxes he had collected on behalf of his employees. Instead of paying the IRS, prosecutors said Stone diverted the funds and routinely used company accounts to cover personal expenses, including alimony and child support.
Federal authorities stated the obstructive conduct spanned more than a decade, persisting from 2013 through 2024. During this 11-year period, Stone also stopped filing his individual tax returns, a move prosecutors allege was specifically designed to frustrate IRS collection efforts and hide his true income and assets from revenue officers.
The total tax loss resulting from the evasion scheme amounted to approximately $1.4 million.
In addition to the two-and-a-half-year prison term, Stone was ordered to serve one year of supervised release. A federal judge also ordered him to pay $1,384,766 in restitution to the IRS.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), with prosecution handled by the Justice Department’s Tax Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
