Bridal Shop Owner Sentenced to Prison for Willfully Failing to Pay More Than $1.3M in Employment Taxes
Monday, June 15, 2026 - A Parker woman was sentenced today to 12 months and one day in prison for willfully failing to pay over employment taxes on behalf of the bridal shop company she owned and operated for more than a decade.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Donna M. Savoy owned and operated Donna Beth Creations, a bridal studio in Denver, Colorado. As the owner of the company, Savoy was responsible for withholding Social Security, Medicare and income taxes from her employees’ wages, paying those funds over to the IRS and filing quarterly employment tax returns with the IRS.
For more than a decade – that is, from the first quarter of 2014 through the fourth quarter of 2024 – Savoy admitted that she withheld taxes from her employees’ wages but willfully failed to pay them over to the IRS. Savoy also willfully failed to file employment tax returns for that entire period. Savoy spent the tax money she withheld from her employees on personal and business expenses. In total, Savoy caused a tax loss to the United States exceeding $1.3 million.
Savoy pleaded guilty to one count of willful failure to account for and pay over trust fund taxes.
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Stuart A. Wexler of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section prosecuted the case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
Source: Justice.gov
