Sharpton, who operated the Sharpton Group,  is a former four-term chairman of the board of the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority and served on that area’s Metropolitan Planning Organization. He also served on the Orange Bowl Committee.

The CPA is also accused of failing to file personal income tax returns from 2011 through 2016. After the IRS audited him and imposed levies and liens he allegedly removed himself from his firm’s payroll, paid personal expenses through corporate bank accounts and lying to an IRS collections official.

In addition, Sharpton was indicted for allegedly failing to pay to the IRS payroll taxes he had withheld from the paychecks of the Sharpton Group’s employees.

If convicted, the accountant faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison for tax evasion, five years in prison for each count of failing to turn over payroll taxes and one year for each count of failing to file tax returns.