Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DONALD BIAGI, JR., 55, of Fairfield, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Alfred V. Covello in Hartford to 18 months of imprisonment, followed by one year of supervised release, for tax evasion.
According to court documents and statements made in court, BIAGI is the sole owner of Don Biagi Landscaping. BIAGI, through Don Biagi Landscaping, generated business income by providing landscaping and snowplowing services to commercial and residential customers in Fairfield County. BIAGI regularly negotiated client checks at banks for cash rather than depositing the checks into his business bank accounts. Between 2008 and 2010, BIAGI cashed approximately 574 client checks, ranging in amounts from $10.52 to $15,604.50, in the total amount of approximately $848,750.
BIAGI, who acted as his own bookkeeper, did not disclose to his tax return preparer the client checks he cashed and some of the client checks he deposited into his business account between 2008 and 2010. As a result, a total of $1,321,305 in business gross receipts were not reported on BIAGI’s federal tax returns for 2008, 2009, and 2010, resulting in his substantially under-reporting his taxable income. BIAGI failed to report approximately 62 percent of his business’s gross receipts in 2008, approximately 47 percent of the gross receipts in 2009, and approximately 60 percent of the gross receipts in 2010.
Judge Covello ordered BIAGI to pay $445,579 in back taxes, and additional penalties and interest that have accrued on his unpaid taxes. BIAGI made a $50,000 payment toward his restitution today.
On September 29, 2016, BIAGI pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion. He was ordered to report to prison on April 1, 2017.
This matter was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter S. Jongbloed.