A Hattiesburg, Mississippi man pleaded guilty on Mar. 9 to failing to pay over funds withheld from employee paychecks, according to Southern District of Mississippi United States Attorney Baxter Kruger.
Court documents show that Duke Kimbrell Rodgers, 68, operated a business called Rodgers Family Pharmacy. From 2013 to 2020, Rodgers withheld more than $1.5 million from his employees’ pay for trust fund taxes but did not remit those funds to the government. Additionally, by not remitting withholdings from his own paycheck and submitting fraudulent personal tax forms, Rodgers caused an additional loss of $629,831.
As part of his plea agreement, Rodgers has agreed to pay restitution exceeding $2 million to the Internal Revenue Service. He is scheduled for sentencing on June 18, 2026 and faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The Internal Revenue Service is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Buckner is prosecuting.
