Date: June 11, 2025
Contact: [email protected]
Charlotte, N.C. – Former NASCAR team owner Ronald Devine, of Burke, Virginia, appeared in federal court today and pleaded guilty to failure to pay payroll taxes, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Donald “Trey” Eakins, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Charlotte Field Office (IRS-CI), James C. Barnacle, Jr., Acting Special Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, and Rodney Hopkins, Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which oversees Charlotte, join U.S. Attorney Ferguson in making today’s announcement.
According to the plea documents and other court records, Devine was the owner and President of BK Racing, LLC (BK Racing), which operated a NASCAR racing team and owned two NASCAR charters. As the owner, Devine exercised control over BK Racing’s financial affairs, including authorizing the filing and payment of its trust fund taxes, commonly referred to as payroll taxes.
Payroll taxes are withheld from employees’ gross pay for income tax and and to fund Social Security and Medicare. Employers are also required to make contributions to trust fund taxes matching the amounts withheld from their employees’ pay, and to file and pay quarterly taxes.
According to court records, beginning in 2012, Devine caused BK Racing to fail to account for and pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in payroll taxes. Court documents show that, between 2012 and 2017, instead of using the funds held in trust to pay for payroll taxes due, Devine transferred more than $2 million to other businesses and entities that he owned and controlled and used some of the funds to pay for BK Racing’s expenses.
Devine was released on bond following his guilty plea. The charge of failure to truthfully account for and pay over trust fund taxes carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date has not been set.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Ferguson commended IRS-CI, the FBI, and USPIS for their investigation of the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Caryn Finley and Daniel Ryan of the Office in Charlotte are prosecuting the case.
IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.