Kenneth Elser, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that James R. Cheek, age 68, formerly of Douglasville, Georgia, and Herschel J. Breig, Sr., age 68, formerly of Nixa, Missouri, appeared today before the Honorable United States District Judge Susan O. Hickey to enter a plea of guilty to Failing to Pay Over Payroll Tax in violation of Title 26 U.S.C. § 7202.
The Indictment alleges that as principals of Hope Medical Park Hospital, both Cheek and Breig who were responsible to collect, truthfully account for, and pay over the hospital’s payroll taxes to the Internal Revenue Service throughout the calendar years 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012, failed to pay approximately $6,000,000 in payroll taxes as was required.
Cheek and Brieg will be sentenced at a later date and their sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including prior criminal record (if any), their role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violations. Their sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases will be less than the maximum. The charge of Failing to Pay Over Payroll Tax carries a maximum penalty of no more than five years in federal prison.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigative Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan D. Ross is prosecuting the case for the United States.
