Owner of Rowdy Beaver pleads guilty in tax case

FORT SMITH — The owner of two Rowdy Beaver restaurants in Eureka Springs pleaded guilty in federal court to collecting federal employment taxes from employee paychecks but not remitting the money to the government.

Rodney Minner pleaded guilty to one of 35 counts of willful failure to collect or pay over tax set out in an indictment filed in April. He entered the plea Tuesday before Western Arkansas Chief U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III. No sentencing date was set.

Minner could be sentenced to up to five years in prison and fined up to $250,000, according to court records.

The plea agreement Minner signed with the government said he admitted to collecting the employment taxes from paychecks of employees at his four restaurants from April 2012 to April 2016 but not paying over the employees’ portions or the employer’s portions of the taxes.

In addition to the two in Eureka Springs, Minner owns Rowdy Beaver restaurants in Cassville, Mo., and Branson, Mo.

The amount of loss totaled between $550,000 and $1.5 million, according to the plea agreement.

The plea agreement said Minner was responsible for filing Form 941 the plea agreement said employers used to report income tax, Social Security tax and Medicare tax withheld from the paychecks of employees and to report the employer’s portion of Social Security tax and Medicare tax.