COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A Georgia man employed at a South Carolina nuclear facility is in jail today after South Carolina Department of Revenue investigators arrested him on tax charges.

Jesse Clay Trowel, Jr., 46, a resident of Hephzibah, Ga., was charged with seven counts of state income tax evasion and two counts of failure to file state income tax returns. He is being held at the Aiken County Detention Center on a $45,000 bond.

Trowel, who is employed at the Westinghouse Savannah River Site, is accused of submitting fraudulent W-4 forms to his employer from 1996 – 2002 claiming to be exempt from South Carolina withholding tax. Trowel submitted correct W-4 withholding forms to his employer for 2003 and 2004, but is accused of failing to file his state income tax returns for those years.

Trowel's tax liability for the years he is accused of submitting fraudulent W-4 withholding forms is estimated to be more than $21,488. 

Trowel is facing up to 37 years in prison and fines up to $90,000 if convicted of all the charges.

Wackenhut Services security personnel assisted the Revenue Department in Trowel's arrest.

###