Fayette County, WV (WOAY) – A Fayette County man previously convicted of violating the Clean Water Act has pleaded guilty for tax fraud.
Michael Graves admitted to falsely listing his yearly income as $816 from 2016 until 2020.
In reality, he made roughly 1 million dollars over that time period, wrongfully withholding more than $260,000 from the Internal Revenue Service.
He was the owner and operator of West Virginia Environmental Services during that time period. His business was paid nearly 10 million dollars to treat industrial waste at a Fayette County landfill. However, he failed to do it properly and allowed arsonic and other pollutants to leak into Jarrett Branch, a tributary of the Kanawha River.
He pleaded guilty to those charges in 2023. He is facing a maximum prison sentence of 3 years for tax fraud and has to pay the federal government what he owes.
