Oil Field Businessman Sentenced for Tax Evasion

FORMER OWNER OF OIL FIELD CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS SENTENCED FOR TAX EVASIONFORMER OWNER OF OIL FIELD CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS SENTENCED FOR TAX EVASION

Ordered to Pay Nearly $1.2 Million in Restitution

OKLAHOMA CITY – MICKEY ALVIN YOUNG, of Chico, Texas, has been sentenced to five years of probation for evading personal federal income taxes for the 2013 tax year, announced U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing.  He will spend the first six months in home confinement and must pay $1,197,616.46 in restitution to the IRS.

A federal grand jury indicted Young on December 4, 2018, on two counts of tax evasion.  According to the indictment, Young operated Mickey Young Construction, a sole proprietorship that built concrete pits to hold millings at oil and gas drilling sites.  Evidence in the case showed that the business had gross receipts of more than $9 million in 2012 and more than $6 million in 2013.  Young was required to report income from his business on his personal federal income tax return.  He was charged with under-reporting his income in both 2012 and 2013 by treating money that he used for personal purposes as deductible business expenses of Mickey Young Construction.  Documents filed in the case showed he improperly treated hundreds of thousands of dollars in each year as business expenses.

A trial in July 2019 resulted in a mistrial after a jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on either count.  The court set the case for re-trial, but on January 30, 2020, Young pleaded guilty to the felony of tax evasion for the 2013 tax year.  Pursuant to a plea agreement, the government moved to dismiss the charge for 2012.

On June 10, 2020, U.S. District Judge Robin J. Cauthron sentenced Young to five years of probation, with the first six months to be served in home confinement.  While recognizing the seriousness of the crime, she explained that this sentence is based in part on the dangers that Covid-19 could pose to Young if he were incarcerated.  She also ordered Young to pay $1,197,616.46 in restitution, which represents unpaid personal federal income taxes for 2011, 2012, and 2013.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigations, with assistance from the U.S. Secret Service.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott E. Williams and Amanda Green prosecuted the case.