PORTLAND — A Rumford man was sentenced to serve a year in federal prison and to pay restitution of nearly $1 million after he was convicted of evading employment taxes.

Jeffrey Richard, 50, was ordered to pay $910,980.37 to the Internal Revenue Service and to spend three years of supervised release once he completes the 12-month prison sentence.

Richard pleaded guilty to the tax evasion charge in July 2023. He had faced up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to court records, between 2013 and 2017, Richard willfully attempted to evade payment of employment withholding taxes owed by his company, Black Bear Industrial Inc.

Despite being aware of the company’s unpaid employment tax liability, Richard took a variety of steps to evade payment, prosecutors said. He regularly used funds from Black Bear’s business bank account to make business and personal purchases, all while making no payments toward Black Bear’s tax liability.

“He also created two nominee companies and took steps to disguise his ownership of the companies,” according to a U.S. District Court news release. “He falsely represented to an IRS revenue officer that he had anything to do with one of the companies. The other company did business and had over $174,000 of business income in 2017, but none of the money was used to pay the IRS. Richard never informed the IRS about the company, and the company never filed any corporate or employment tax returns.”

The IRS investigated the case against Richard.

“Today’s sentencing of Jeffrey Richard sends a strong message to all individuals and businesses that think they are above the law and can evade their obligation to pay their fair share of taxes,” said Thomas Demeo, acting special agent in charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation’s Boston Field Office. “Richard knowingly chose to steal and cheat from every American taxpayer when he selfishly chose to use business funds for personal purchases and took other steps to evade paying his tax liability. Tax evasion is not a victimless crime, it impacts every American by stealing resources vital to fund schools, maintain public infrastructure and enhance social welfare.”