Jacksonville roofer brothers charged with $2.8M payroll tax fraud using illegal workers

Travis Slaughter had jail time hanging over him for more than a year unless he paid $2.2 million in fines to the federal government. Then his luck went downhill.

Days before the Jacksonville building contractor’s scheduled hearing last week before a federal judge, a grand jury indicted Slaughter and his brother, Tripp, on new fraud and tax charges that could lead to prison and another $3 million in debt whether the fines are paid or not.

The brothers, who were previously in business together as roofing contractors, were recently charged with dodging about $2.8 million in payroll taxes while hiring undocumented immigrants through a scam like one that netted prison time for a father-son pair of builders in January.

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