Ga. business owner sentenced in tax evasion

ATLANTA (AP) – Federal prosecutors say a metro Atlanta business owner has been sentenced for trying to block the IRS from collecting millions in employment taxes.

Authorities said Monday that 68-year-old Paulette Bryant of Stockbridge has been sentenced to three years in prison for obstructing the IRS from collecting nearly $3 million in payroll taxes between 1998 and 2009.

Authorities say she briefly made payments while her business was being audited by the IRS.

Prosecutors say Bryant used money that should have been paid to the IRS to fund her company and to pay personal expenses. Authorities say Bryant formed new corporate identities to try delaying the IRA from collecting the past-due employment taxes.

Bryant is ordered to serve a year of supervised release and pay nearly $3 million in restitution.