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Date: April 21, 2026
Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov
Austin, TX – The owner of a Texas construction company pleaded guilty today to obstructing the IRS’s efforts to collect unpaid employment taxes.
According to court documents and statements made in court, David Stone willfully failed to pay over employment taxes he had collected on behalf of the employees of Engineered Metals Company, a roofing, siding and sheet metal business that he owned and operated. As a result of his willful failure to pay over these employment taxes, the IRS began collection proceedings against him. Knowing the IRS was attempting to collect this tax delinquency, Stone stopped filing individual income tax returns and used business accounts to pay personal expenses, such as child support and alimony, to keep funds out of his own hands and conceal his income from the IRS. Stone’s obstructive actions persisted from 2013 through 2024 and caused a tax loss to the United States of approximately $1.4 million.
Stone pleaded guilty to corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the due administration of the internal revenue laws. He faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Assistant Deputy Chief David Zisserson and Trial Attorney Caroline Pearson of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section are prosecuting the case.
IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.