The president of a local community newspaper chain has pleaded guilty to failing to pay taxes.
Peter Labovitz, the president of Connection Newspapers, admitted that he didn't pay more than $940,000 in employment and income taxes to the Internal Revenue Service between 2002 and 2008.
He pleaded guilty in federal court in Alexandria to two counts of failing to pay taxes.
According to his plea agreement, taxes were deducted from employees' wages, but Labovitz didn't pay those sums to the IRS. He neglected to pay the taxes "willfully and not because of accident, mistake or other innocent reason," the plea agreement says.
Connection Newspapers publishes about 15 community papers in Northern Virginia and Maryland. In a letter to readers on the company's website, Labovitz apologized and said the organization "fell behind" in its taxes after Sept. 11 and the recession that began in 2007.
"During these two periods of great financial duress, our organization filed all of our required tax returns but did not pay all of its federal payroll taxes in full," the letter says.
Labovitz wrote that he hoped continue as president and was "personally making arrangements to pay the most recent shortfalls in full."
Prosecutors said Labovitz could face up to two years in prison and a $200,000 fine. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 27.
