MADISON, Wis. — The owner of the Wisconsin Great Northern, the heritage rail operation in Spooner, Wis., which gained significant attention for its efforts to restore the Mark Twain Zephyr, has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for failure to pay employment taxes.
Greg Vreeland, 55, of Springbrook, Wis., was sentenced on Tuesday, Sept. 24, by U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson after pleading guilt to the tax charge on April 18, U.S. Attorney Timothy M. O’Shea said in a press release today (Wednesday, Sept. 25). Vreeland also paid $684,469 to the Internal Revenue Service in unpaid taxes prior to entering the guilty plea.
Vreeland, president of the railroad and also managing partner of the Country House Motel and RV Park in Spooner, failed to file employment tax forms for the railroad and to pay over employee tax withholdings from the fourth quarter of 2017 through the end of 2021, and similarly failed to file forms and pay over withholdings for the motel from the third quarter of 2015 through the third quarter of 2020.
The government says Vreeland used the employee withholdings to buy land and equipment to expand the railroad and to purchase a residence in Springbrook. He received civil notices from the IRS for non-payment of taxes from 2014 through mid-2016, but did not cooperate with the IRS until it began levying bank accounts.
Judge Peterson, in sentencing, said the failure to pay the taxes was a serious crime and was “part of a long-sustained pattern of criminal conduct,” and that the crime was aggravated by the fact he had engaged in the same conduct from 2014 to 2016, then did so again starting in 2018.
The Wisconsin Great Northern, which offers dinner and bed & breakfast train rides, also offers railcar storage and switching services.
To bad he didn’t just pay the taxes when due, and to bad he didn’t pay them when they notified him instead of not cooperating. The publicity could have been avoided. Speaks volumes about the individual.
I thought this operation was too good to be true.
I hope this does not negatively affect train operation or the restoration of the Zephyr.
Depends upon who is now running the company.