April 8, 2022

A Boone businessman pleaded guilty Wednesday in Wake County Superior Court to felony tax charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

William David Gindlesperger, 58, of Newland, pleaded guilty on April 6, 2022 to two counts of Embezzlement of State Property and two counts of Attempt to Evade or Defeat Tax.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway sentenced Gindlesperger to a 16-month minimum, 29-month maximum prison term for two counts of Embezzlement of State Property, and a 6-month minimum, 17-month maximum prison term for two counts of Attempt to Evade and Defeat Tax. The sentences were suspended and Gindlesperger was placed on supervised probation for 36 months. As a condition of probation, Gindlesperger was ordered to be placed under electronic home monitoring for a period of 60 days, pay a fine of $2,000.00, and complete 100 hours of community service. Gindlesperger paid $148,291.30 in restitution prior to the plea.

Information presented in court showed that William David Gindlesperger, owner of Curiosity Consignment, did embezzle, misapply, and convert to his own use $148,291.30 in North Carolina Sales Tax during the period of August 1, 2014 through December 31, 2018. During this period of time, Gindlesperger was the responsible person of the business, which was under a duty to collect, hold in trust, and remit North Carolina Sales Tax to the North Carolina Department of Revenue. 

Additional information presented showed that Gindlesperger knowingly filed false and fraudulent North Carolina Individual Income Tax Returns for tax years 2016 and 2017 that understated his taxable income, all in an attempt to evade and defeat the imposition and payment of North Carolina Individual Income Tax. 

The charges against Gindlesperger resulted from an investigation by special agents with the Department’s Criminal Investigations Division in Raleigh, and was prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions attorneys in the office of the Attorney General.