Dallas Business Owner Sentenced to More Than Eight Years in Prison For Failing to Pay Over Withheld Employment Taxes

A Dallas business owner convicted at trial of failing to pay over employment taxes that she withheld from her employees was sentenced yesterday to more than eight years in federal prison, announced United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould.

Heaven Marie Diaz, 57, was indicted in 2023 and convicted by a jury in June 2025 on five counts of failing to pay over trust fund taxes.  She was sentenced yesterday to 97 months in federal prison by Senior U.S. District Judge David Godbey, who also ordered her to pay $799,033.47 in restitution.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Diaz was the owner and CEO of Pursuit of Excellence, a staffing company based in Dallas.  From 2015 to 2017, she withheld payroll taxes from her employees’ paychecks but failed to remit more than $3 million to the IRS as required by law.  

Former employees and Diaz’s former accountant testified that they repeatedly warned her about her obligation to pay employment taxes.  Despite those warnings, Diaz continued to withhold the taxes and kept the funds in her company’s bank accounts.  Evidence showed she used those funds to cover personal expenses, including international travel, luxury goods, and $10,000 monthly rent on a home in Dallas’s Preston Hollow neighborhood.

“The defendant lied to her employees and embezzled employment taxes due to greed.  The substantial prison sentence of eight years reflects the seriousness of the offense and the collaborative investigative work by our AUSAs and IRS-CI,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould.  “We will continue to fully pursue these offenses to protect the federal fisc and ensure that tax dollars are being spent as intended instead of to fund a defendant’s lavish lifestyle.”

“Heaven Diaz stole from her employees and the American taxpayer to fund a lifestyle she didn’t earn,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher J. Altemus Jr. of the IRS Criminal Investigation Dallas Field Office.  “She ignored repeated warnings, misused her position, and treated trust fund taxes like a personal bank account.  Today’s sentencing is the result of IRS-CI’s relentless investigative work.  The women and men of IRS-CI will continue working to uphold trust in the tax system and support those who do the right thing.”

IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan P. Niedermair and Joshua D. Detzky prosecuted the case.