New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Acting Commissioner Jamie Woodward announced that Francis J. Iacovangelo, owner of Excel Auto Sales, 2950 Chili Avenue, was sentenced last Friday to 16 weekends in the Monroe County Sheriff’s Work Release Program for failing to remit sales tax collected from his customers.

Iacovangelo, 69, of 94 Nory Lane, Rochester, pled guilty in August to Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class E felony.  An investigation conducted by the Special Investigations Unit of the department’s Rochester District Office uncovered that Iacovangelo filed false sales tax returns from September 2002 through November 2005, underreporting his taxable sales by $915,695.00.

Before entering his plea, Iacovangelo paid $74,368 restitution to the state.

Acting Commissioner Woodward said, “This case is yet another prosecution arising out of our investigation of sales tax fraud by various cash businesses, including used car dealers.  Sales tax fraud not only deprives state and local governments of needed tax revenues, but it also defrauds customers who have paid the sales tax. I commend Monroe County District Attorney Michael C. Green for his aggressive prosecution of this case.”

Acting Commissioner Woodward added, “The Department offers programs such as the Voluntary Disclosure and Compliance Program to encourage delinquent taxpayers to become compliant without facing criminal prosecution or civil penalty. It is hoped that this case will encourage such taxpayers to come forward and satisfy their tax obligation.  For more information about these programs, go to the Department’s website at www.nystax.gov.”