Date: December 1, 2021 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov A Louisiana man pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to defraud the IRS. According to court documents, from 2011 to April 2018, Randall Lackey of Jefferson Parish conspired to defraud the IRS by concealing his own income and the income of others. Lackey worked as an employee for two commercial construction companies, SES Construction Consulting Group (SES) and Global Technical Solutions (GTS). To hide his income from the IRS, Lackey had his SES and GTS wages paid to R&O Renovations and Reconstructions (R&O), a company he owned. For the 2012 through 2017 tax years, Lackey did not file corporate income tax returns for R&O or personal income tax returns with the IRS. Lackey's co-conspirators furthered the scheme by falsely classifying Lackey as a contractor of SES and GTS rather than an employee. As a result, Lackey had no taxes withheld from his paycheck and SES and GTS avoided paying employment taxes on his wages. Lackey and other members of the conspiracy also hired workers who lacked proper documentation and were not authorized to work in the United States, and then paid them in cash "off the books." Lackey is scheduled to be sentenced on March 16, 2022, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Other members of the conspiracy, Randy Farrell, the current owner of SES and GTS; Mathew Reck, the former co-owner of SES and GTS; and two other employees of SES and GTS, Dawn Farrell Ruiz and David Farrell (Randy Farrell's sister and brother), all previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the IRS. Reck is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 12, 2022. Randy Farrell, David Farrell, and Farrell Ruiz are all scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 9, 2022. Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department's Tax Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana made the announcement. IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case. Trial Attorneys William Montague and Parker Tobin of the Justice Department's Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Moses of the Eastern District of Louisiana are prosecuting the case.
