Jumping the gun on diverting tax dollars to private school…
The former state’s attorney for Bennett County has been charged in U.S. District Court with evading business taxes and is set to plead guilty on Friday.
Kenneth Orrock, 48, of Rapid City, is charged with willful failure to collect and pay over tax in 2015 as owner of the Black Hills Patrol security agency. The crime is punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.
According to court documents, Orrock did not pay $17,352.23 in employees’ taxes during the last quarter of 2015, even after collecting taxes from his employees, including federal income tax and Social Security.
He prevented the IRS from discovering this partly by not filing the Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return, said a statement Orrock signed Friday.
“Instead of paying over the taxes, Orrock used at least a portion of the withholdings for his own personal use, including payments for private school tuition,” it said [Tiffany Tan, “Former Bennett County State’s Attorney to Plead Guilty to Tax Evasion,” Rapid City Journal, 2017.02.07].
Alas, that 2015 tuition trick was only icing on Orrock’s big, bad tax-evasion cake:
In Orrock’s plea deal, signed the same day, he agreed to pay the IRS a restitution of $280,257.72.
The amount includes other Black Hills Patrol taxes he failed to pay: $100,703.67, the employer’s portion of taxes from 2011 to 2015, as well as $162,201.82 that he taxed employees from the first quarter of 2011 through the third quarter of 2015.
Orrock’s statement said he used a portion of the money for personal expenses, including vacations and cruises [Tan, 2017.02.07].
Remember, Orrock committed this federal crime while serving as Bennett County state’s attorney, an act which in itself violated state law, since Orrock didn’t satisfy the residency requirement. An Oglala Sioux Tribe representative filed a complaint against Orrock after his primary loss last summer calling for Orrock’s removal from office and examination by the state bar for fitness to practice law. The state appears to have taken no action on that complaint.
It will be pretty hard now for the state bar to look at 280 thousands dollars worth of tax evasion and say, “Sure, Ken, you can keep lawyering. We trust you.”
last summer calling for Orrock’s removal from office and examination by the state bar for fitness to practice law. The state appears to have taken no action on that complaint.
There’s a surprise for you. No action?
Jenny
There must be something in the water with all the corruption going on in SD. There’s also the Brule County patrol officer,Brian Biehl of Platte arrested for grand theft for stealing $80000 in drug money. Such a small state to have so much corruption, it’s disturbing.
Roger Cornelius
What’s the big deal?
It is just another average day of republican corruption in South Dakota.
Nothing to see here.
private richard
biehl planned to pay it back, just like joop.
Porter Lansing
Natives- 1
Powerful White Parochialism – 0
Wayne B.
Coincidence both Biehl & Orrock are 48?
Rorschach
Dr. Evil brought to justice. Or is he Mini Me?
Richard Schriever
I worked for an employer who, for two years did this same thing. They withheld (the pay stubs said) Income taxes and SS from my paychecks, but never deposited it with the Feds. Those two years still show up on my SS earnings reports as ZERO INCOME years for ME. I.E., I am forever burdened by having two fewer years worth of benefitted earnings to my credit. Those two years bring my annual average earnings (what one’s SS benefits are based on) down. By the time I discovered this had occurred, it was too late to remedy with the SS folks – even had I had the pay-stubs as evidence. There is a time limit on correcting reported earnings. Just an FYI.
last summer calling for Orrock’s removal from office and examination by the state bar for fitness to practice law. The state appears to have taken no action on that complaint.
There’s a surprise for you. No action?
There must be something in the water with all the corruption going on in SD. There’s also the Brule County patrol officer,Brian Biehl of Platte arrested for grand theft for stealing $80000 in drug money. Such a small state to have so much corruption, it’s disturbing.
What’s the big deal?
It is just another average day of republican corruption in South Dakota.
Nothing to see here.
biehl planned to pay it back, just like joop.
Natives- 1
Powerful White Parochialism – 0
Coincidence both Biehl & Orrock are 48?
Dr. Evil brought to justice. Or is he Mini Me?
I worked for an employer who, for two years did this same thing. They withheld (the pay stubs said) Income taxes and SS from my paychecks, but never deposited it with the Feds. Those two years still show up on my SS earnings reports as ZERO INCOME years for ME. I.E., I am forever burdened by having two fewer years worth of benefitted earnings to my credit. Those two years bring my annual average earnings (what one’s SS benefits are based on) down. By the time I discovered this had occurred, it was too late to remedy with the SS folks – even had I had the pay-stubs as evidence. There is a time limit on correcting reported earnings. Just an FYI.