Business Owner Failed to Report $266,048 in Income

STATESBORO, GA:  Jonathan Mann (39) of Vidalia, Georgia, pled guilty in April 2025 to filing a false tax-related document for the 2018 tax year. On September 18, 2025, the Honorable J. Randal Hall, United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of Georgia, sentenced Mann to 12 months of imprisonment, followed by 1 year of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Mann was also ordered to pay $84,638 in restitution representing the amount of tax he owed on the unreported income.

As described in court documents and at sentencing, Mann failed to inform his tax preparer of $266,048 in income received by his construction business between 2017 and 2019. Instead, Mann deposited these checks in his bank account or cashed them at the bank upon which the check was drawn. Mann’s conduct resulted in him paying $84,638 less in federal income tax over that 3-year period.

“My office is committed to pursuing individuals that knowingly seek to avoid contributing their share of federal taxes and instead shifting to their fellow citizens the burden of keeping our government functioning,” said Margaret E. Heap, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations Division and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant United States Attorney John P. Harper III.