Man Gets 33 Months for Payroll Fraud Scheme

A federal judge in Florida on Monday sentenced Gregorio Jose Fuentes-Zelaya to 33 months in prison for his role in a multi-million-dollar workers’ compensation premium and tax-evasion scheme. Fuentes-Zelaya pleaded guilty in September 2020 to conspiring with Dennis Alexander Barahona to use a shell company to avoid paying about $3.6 million in work comp premiums and $5.7 million in taxes. Barahona, who pleaded guilty in March, is scheduled to be sentenced July 6. Court documents alleged that Fuentes-Zelaya purchased work comp coverage in the name of shell companies that reported a mini...