A Dallas business owner has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for failing to pay employment taxes withheld from her employees, according to an announcement by United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould.
Heaven Marie Diaz, 57, was indicted in 2023 and found guilty by a jury in June 2025 on five counts related to not paying trust fund taxes. On Monday, Senior U.S. District Judge David Godbey sentenced her to 97 months in prison and ordered restitution of $799,033.47.
Court records show that Diaz owned Pursuit of Excellence, a staffing company based in Dallas. From 2015 through 2017, she withheld payroll taxes from employee paychecks but failed to send over $3 million of those funds to the Internal Revenue Service as required by law.
Testimony from former employees and Diaz’s accountant indicated they warned her multiple times about her legal obligation to pay employment taxes. Despite these warnings, Diaz continued withholding the taxes and kept the money in company accounts. Evidence presented at trial showed she used some of these funds for personal expenses such as international travel, luxury items, and paying $10,000 per month rent for a home in Preston Hollow.
“The defendant lied to her employees and embezzled employment taxes due to greed. The substantial prison sentence of eight years reflects the seriousness of the offense and the collaborative investigative work by our AUSAs and IRS-CI,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. “We will continue to fully pursue these offenses to protect the federal fisc and ensure that tax dollars are being spent as intended instead of to fund a defendant’s lavish lifestyle.”
“Heaven Diaz stole from her employees and the American taxpayer to fund a lifestyle she didn’t earn,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher J. Altemus Jr. of the IRS Criminal Investigation Dallas Field Office. “She ignored repeated warnings, misused her position, and treated trust fund taxes like a personal bank account. Today’s sentencing is the result of IRS-CI’s relentless investigative work. The women and men of IRS-CI will continue working to uphold trust in the tax system and support those who do the right thing.”
The investigation was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation with prosecution handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan P. Niedermair and Joshua D. Detzky.
