Mentor, Ohio – A federal jury has convicted a Mentor man for willfully failing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in employment taxes that were withheld from employees’ paychecks but never sent to the Internal Revenue Service.
Trial Uncovers Years of Unpaid Payroll Taxes at In-Home Care Business
Michael Roberts, 38, was found guilty after a two-day trial on two counts of failure to account for and pay over taxes. Roberts served as the executive director and co-owner of Progressive Alternatives, an in-home care business that provided services to individuals with developmental disabilities in Lake and Ashtabula Counties.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Progressive Alternatives was initially purchased by Roberts’s spouse, Larry Keith Gildersleeve III, in February 2011. Over time, Roberts assumed more responsibility, eventually taking over day-to-day financial operations and managing payroll. He formally assumed the title of co-owner by 2014.
As an employer, Roberts was required to withhold Social Security, Medicare, and federal income taxes from employee wages and remit those amounts to the IRS using Form 941, the Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return. Records showed that Roberts’s company issued payroll checks that reflected appropriate tax withholdings and that employee W-2 forms also appeared to show the correct deductions.
However, investigators discovered that despite the appearance of compliance, Progressive Alternatives failed to actually file the W-2 forms with the IRS and never submitted the required Form 941 payments. The issue surfaced in late 2017 when an employee preparing to retire contacted the Social Security Administration and was informed that the company had not paid any employment taxes. Although Roberts was made aware of the issue, he still failed to submit the withheld taxes.
The IRS determined that Roberts had failed to pay $112,616.50 for the quarter ending December 31, 2017, and $114,070.75 for the quarter ending March 31, 2018, totaling more than $226,000 in unpaid payroll taxes.
Roberts now faces a potential prison sentence of up to 10 years. His sentencing is scheduled for July 17, 2025.
Co-Owner Also Admits Guilt in Related Charges
Roberts’ spouse, Larry Keith Gildersleeve III, 43, also of Mentor, pleaded guilty in October 2024 to eight counts of failure to account for and pay over employment taxes. His charges cover additional quarters in 2018 and 2019 that bring the total unpaid tax liabilities to even higher levels.
Gildersleeve admitted to not paying taxes for the same two quarters for which Roberts was convicted, as well as six additional periods: June 30, 2018 ($114,070.75), September 30, 2018 ($114,070.75), December 31, 2018 ($114,070.75), March 31, 2019 ($41,356.00), June 30, 2019 ($41,356.00), and September 30, 2019 ($41,356.00). In total, Gildersleeve faces up to 40 years in prison. His sentencing is set for April 22, 2025.
The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erica D. Barnhill and Brett S. Hammond prosecuted the case on behalf of the Northern District of Ohio.
