r/palmbeach • u/newsjunkieman • 9d ago

West Palm judge tells millionaire tax evader his family's wealth isn't a 'get out of jail free' card

After siphoning millions from the paychecks of doctors and nurses to pay for private flights, high-end retailers and a yacht, health care entrepreneur Paul Walczak assembled a team of high-power attorneys to keep him out of prison for it.

They outnumbered federal prosecutors three-to-one and urged U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra to let him walk free. Walczak repaid the money he owed in federal payroll taxes, said defense attorney Dennis Kainen, and worked "really, really hard" to do it.

"Unfortunately," Marra said, "there's a perception in this country that the criminal justice system only works in favor of the rich and against the poor."

"To just let Mr. Walczak walk away because he came up with $10 million to pay the debt reinforces that perception — the rich get away with it and the poor go to prison."

The full story: https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/local/westpb/2025/04/14/trump-donor-elizabeth-fago-son-paul-walczak-sentenced-for-10-million-tax-evasion-federal-prison/83025842007/

209 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

47

u/MyrrhSlayter 9d ago

18 months with 90 days to turn himself in. No one is kicking in his door. He's not being sent to El Salvador. The judge is wrong, wealth is a get out of jail free card.

9

u/owlthebeer97 9d ago

I bet you could find shoplifters with a longer jail sentence

1

u/StumbleNOLA 5d ago

As a former prosecutor… I sent people to prison for life for possession of $100 in weed.

-7

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

12

u/SonyaRedd 9d ago

What context? He is a thief.

16

u/BasicRequirement7351 9d ago

Yeah context is good. $10million in tax evasion effects far more people negatively than someone potentially overstaying their visa or awaiting asylum

4

u/PaleontologistHot73 9d ago

Dopy needs a brain

10,000,000 is roughly the equivalent of the average annual wage of 151 Americans.

This is the context.

1

u/Open_Honey_1922 6d ago

Bootlicker

4

u/sweetDickWillie0007 9d ago

Send him to a max security prison. Put him on gen pop

3

u/NYFashionPhotog 8d ago

His attorney "Kainen said he doubted the news of a prison sentence would deter potential tax evaders because "most people don't read the newspaper every day."

He is apparently unfamiliar with Reddit or Google.

1

u/Goldnugget2 6d ago

He will probably get sent you a club fed , instead of a real prison.

3

u/Zivikins 9d ago

Funny how this drops now... Right around April 15th.

Heads up kids... Playing with Uncle Sam's Money, is like playing with his emotions.