(Metro Creative Graphics)

A Tyler attorney pleaded guilty to withholding taxes from his employees and using the money for his personal expenses.

John Bennett White IV, 60, pleaded guilty on Monday to information charging him with failure to pay employment taxes before U.S. Magistrate Judge K. Nicole Mitchell.

“Mr. White withheld taxes from his employees’ paychecks but repeatedly failed to turn those funds over to the IRS,” Acting United States Attorney Nicholas Ganjei said. “White instead chose to pocket his employees’ tax payments to fund his lifestyle. This sort of conduct harms every taxpayer, not only because of the lost public revenue, but also because of the expense of recovering the lost funds from individuals such as White.”

White was an attorney and firm manager for J. Bennett White, P.C. in Tyler, where he had a large amount of control over the finances of the firm and had a duty to account for and pay over the employment taxes on behalf of the firm’s employees to the IRS, according to information presented in court.

From the second quarter of 2007 to the fourth quarter of 2015, White made “sporadic and partial efforts to pay his firm’s employment tax liabilities.”

For multiple quarters, White withheld employment taxes from employee wages but he failed to pay those trust fund taxes to the IRS.

He paid the full amount to the IRS for 24 out of 38 quarters. He made 10 partial payments and no payment for seven quarters, according to the court information. Officials say he caused a tax loss of over $300,000. He used the tax money to pay other creditors and his own personal expenses.

White faces up to five years in federal prison. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after a presentence investigation.