Businessman pleads guilty to not paying taxes

KANSAS CITY, Kan. —A Leawood businessman has pleaded guilty to failing to pay more than $4.7 million worth of payroll taxes, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Jeffrey Phillips, 41, of Leawood, admitted that from 2001 to 2005 his companies withheld tax payments from employee's paychecks including federal income taxes, Medicare and Social Security taxes. During those years, Phillips failed to make payments due to the IRS totaling $4,794,886.

Phillips owned more than a dozen companies, including nursing homes in Missouri and Kansas, a meat processing plant in El Dorado and a ranch in McLouth that raised show cattle.

Sentencing is set for March 1. Phillips faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison, a fine up to $250,000 and restitution.

This story was originally published December 8, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Businessman pleads guilty to not paying taxes."