Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Northern District of Florida

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Construction Company Partner Pleads Guilty to Evading Taxes on More Than $1 Million

PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA –Patrick Shawn Kelley, 54, of Panama City Beach, has pled guilty to two counts of tax evasion.  The plea was announced by Christopher P. Canova, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

Between 2009 and 2011, Kelley was a partner in American Construction Logistics and Services (ACLS), a construction company that performed work for the U.S. Government in Afghanistan.  During his guilty plea on October 14, Kelley admitted that he failed to file tax returns for the 2009, 2010, and 2011 tax years on income consisting of $1,167,025.32 in wages, ACLS funds used for personal expenditures, and cash wired to Kelley’s wife from ACLS employees.  In total, Kelley never paid the IRS $210,397 in taxes due and owing for the unreported income.

During the years 2010 and 2011, in an effort to conceal his income from the IRS, and without the knowledge or consent of his business partners, Kelley made significant personal expenditures directly from the ACLS bank account.  The expenditures included $320,550 for the purchase of his personal residence in Panama City Beach; $156,000 for an ownership interest in a motorcycle shop; $44,000 for the purchase of a boat; $10,393 for the purchase of a Jeep Wrangler; and a $9,500 loan to a friend.  Kelley also diverted funds totaling $353,520.37 from the ACLS corporate bank account to his personal bank accounts, and directed Afghan employees to wire cash to his wife.

For each count of tax evasion, Kelley faces a maximum of five years in prison, a total fine of $250,000, and an order of restitution.  Sentencing is scheduled for January 13, 2017, at 2:00 p.m., at the United States Courthouse in Panama City.

This case resulted from an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.  Assistant United States Attorney Stephen M. Kunz is prosecuting the case.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General.  To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website.  For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visithttp://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.

For more information, contact:
Amy Alexander, Public Information Officer
(850) 216-3854, amy.alexander@usdoj.gov