EVERSON, Wash. – A former Everson contractor will spend two years in federal prison for failing to pay millions in taxes.

A U.S. District Court judge in Seattle sentenced 64-year-old Jay Prather on Tuesday, May 9th.

Prather owned Heritage General Building Contractors from 2013 to 2019 and withheld over $1 million from his employees’ paychecks for FICA, income and other taxes.

But instead of sending the money to the federal programs, he spent it on luxuries including sportscars, horses, and a remodel of his multi-million-dollar estate in rural Whatcom County.

The work for the remodel was even done by some of his employees using the money he withheld from their paychecks.

Some of his employees and his accountant eventually confronted Prather, but he still failed to pay the taxes.

He even founded a new company in 2020, Artisan Builders Inc., and again failed to submit money he withheld from employees’ paychecks.

Prather is required to pay over $1 million in restitution as part of his sentence.