A wealthy Washington County contractor will not be allowed to serve his one-year sentence for federal income tax evasion inside his $5 million mansion, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday.
William G. Tomko Jr. was sentenced in 2005 after he pleaded guilty to persuading subcontractors and suppliers to bill his business between 1996 and 1998 for work being done on his posh Venetia home.
Tomko avoided paying more than $225,000 in taxes by having the work written off as business expenses, the government said.
In addition to house arrest, U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster placed Tomko on probation for three years and ordered him to pay a $250,000 fine, serve 250 hours of community service and undergo alcohol treatment.
The U.S. Attorney's Office appealed the sentence, arguing that it was unfair for Tomko to avoid prison.
A three-judge panel of the 3rd Circuit split in its decision, with Judge D. Brooks Smith dissenting.
He said district judges must be allowed to "potentially" impose sentences outside the recommended guideline range under certain circumstances. He said Lancaster acted within reason.
Judges D. Michael Fisher and Robert E. Cowen sided with the government.
"It is clear from the record that Tomko's was no garden-variety tax evasion case," Fisher wrote in the majority opinion.
No date has been set for Tomko's resentencing. Tax evasion carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Tomko's business, W.G. Tomko & Sons, in Finleyville, did work on schools and municipal buildings, which prosecutors said made it easier for him to pull off the scam.
Tomko also deducted other personal expenses through his company, including a Rolls Royce, prosecutors said.
