Travis Morgan Slaughter, 45, and Tripp Charles Slaughter, 47, both of Jacksonville, Florida, pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit tax fraud related to their roofing business operations. The father-and-son duo operated businesses under the names Great White Construction, Florida Roofing Experts, and 5 Star Roofing Services between 2007 and 2020.
According to court documents, the Slaughters used a scheme to avoid paying payroll taxes and workers’ compensation premiums. They contracted with professional employer organizations (PEOs) to issue payroll checks and file tax returns, but secretly paid employees separately with “split checks” from company accounts, without deducting payroll taxes. This led to an unpaid payroll tax bill of $2,768,377. Additionally, the business underreported workers’ compensation premiums, causing a loss of $2,780,947.
Travis Slaughter has agreed to forfeit $2,780,947 in fraud proceeds and pay restitution totaling $9.8 million, including payroll tax losses and unpaid premiums. Tripp Slaughter will forfeit $416,800 and pay restitution of $1.4 million.
The Slaughters also underreported their personal incomes, leading to additional tax liabilities of $2.47 million for Travis Slaughter and $263,614 for Tripp Slaughter.
Each faces significant prison time: up to 5 years for tax fraud and up to 20 years for the mail and wire fraud charges. Sentencing hearings have not yet been scheduled. The investigation was led by the IRS-Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Florida Department of Financial Services.
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