PLATEAU CONSTRUCTION CO. OF LEEDS SEES BOOKKEEPER SENTENCED ON MAIL FRAUD AND TAX CHARGES

BIRMINGHAM, AL - United States Attorney Alice H. Martin announced that BEVERLY ANN BYERS, 46, of Leeds, was sentenced to 33 months in prison by U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler.  Byers was also ordered to pay $ 249,454 plus interest in restitution to her former employer, Plateau Construction Company, Inc.   Additionally, she was ordered to pay $23,952 to the Internal Revenue Service.  Upon release from prison she will serve 3 years on Supervised Release.

BYERS was charged in a two count Information.  Count One charged BYERS with using a mail fraud scheme to embezzle from her employer and Count Two charged Byers with filing a false tax return for 2004.

“BYERS abused the trust placed in her by this small business owner.  While not a crime of violence, the injury to these victims is a terrible injustice from which it will take many years if ever to recover,” said U.S. Attorney Alice H. Martin.

According to  United States Attorney Alice H. Martin, BYERS was the bookkeeper for Plateau Construction Company in Leeds.  Between December 5, 2002 and December 25, 2005, she mailed 44 letters containing unauthorized company checks to herself and to pay her personal bills.  These checks totaled some $249,454.  She also failed to report approximately $90,576 of the embezzled funds on her 2004 income tax return which resulted in her failure to pay $23,952 in tax.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Postal Inspectors of the U.S. Postal Service