PA Dept. of Revenue: Beaver County Business Owner Sentenced for Tax Evasion

Ordered to Pay $20,746.46 Restitution to the Commonwealth

HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 3 -- A Rochester, Beaver County man has been sentenced to three years of probation after pleading guilty to 20 counts of state tax offenses, Pennsylvania Secretary of Revenue Gregory C. Fajt said today.

Michael Patrick Murtha, 46, owner and operator of Murtha Automotive Inc. located at 638 Virginia Ave., Rochester, pleaded guilty in Dauphin County Court on Aug. 1 to charges that he failed to remit state sales tax collected from customers.

That day, Dauphin County Judge Richard A. Lewis sentenced Murtha to three years of probation and ordered him to pay $20,746.46 in restitution to the commonwealth for the delinquent taxes plus interest, fines totaling $1,150 and court costs.

The Department of Revenue's Office of Criminal Tax Investigations developed the case against Murtha and referred it to the Office of Attorney General after he refused to comply voluntarily. Senior Deputy Attorney General George R. Zaiser prosecuted the case on behalf of the commonwealth.