A Dallas staffing-company founder who built a business on helping others get paid is now headed to federal prison for more than eight years after a jury found she withheld and spent millions in payroll taxes, officials say. Heaven Marie Diaz, 57, owner and CEO of Pursuit of Excellence, was sentenced to 97 months behind bars and ordered to pay $799,033.47 in restitution. Prosecutors told the court she diverted payroll taxes between 2015 and 2017 and used the cash for her own luxury lifestyle.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas, Senior U.S. District Judge David Godbey handed down the 97-month sentence on Dec. 2 and entered the restitution order. "The defendant lied to her employees and embezzled employment taxes due to greed," U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said in the statement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan P. Niedermair and Joshua D. Detzky prosecuted the case.
Conviction And Allegations
Diaz was indicted in 2023 and, after a short trial, a jury in June convicted her on five counts of failing to pay over trust-fund taxes, according to IRS Criminal Investigation. Trial evidence showed she withheld more than $3 million in payroll taxes from employees' paychecks between 2015 and 2017 and never turned that money over to the IRS.
Trial Evidence And Lifestyle
Former employees and Diaz's former accountant testified that they repeatedly warned her about the unpaid employment taxes, but financial records presented at trial showed the money stayed in Pursuit of Excellence accounts and covered international travel, high-end shopping and a $10,000 monthly rent payment for a Preston Hollow home. Diaz told jurors she considered some of those expenses business-related, claiming she hosted "murder mystery" networking parties at the residence, as reported by D Magazine.
Sentence Details And Court Order
Judge Godbey's order formally sentenced Diaz to 97 months in federal prison and required her to pay $799,033.47 in restitution, as outlined by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas. The term followed the jury's guilty verdict on all five counts, and prosecutors described the punishment in their release as fitting the seriousness of her conduct.
Investigation And Enforcement
IRS Criminal Investigation led the probe, and Special Agent in Charge Christopher J. Altemus Jr. said the verdict serves as a reminder that employers who betray their workers' trust by misusing withheld taxes can expect to be held accountable. Federal authorities have pointed to the case as part of a broader push to prosecute trust-fund tax violations and crack down on business owners who treat payroll withholdings like a personal slush fund.
The sentence underscores that employers have a legal duty to collect and remit payroll taxes and that ignoring that obligation can carry criminal consequences. Diaz is set to be remanded to federal custody to begin her term and remains responsible for paying the restitution ordered by the court.
