BUFFALO – A local businessman will spend a year in prison for failing to pay taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.

U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced Wednesday that John C. Creighton, 57, of Bemus Point, who was convicted of failing to pay payroll taxes, was sentenced to 12 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution to the IRS totaling $663,627, by Chief U.S. District Court Judge William M. Skretny.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross, who handled the case, stated that Creighton is the president and owner of Classic Brass Inc. in Lakewood. In 2010 and 2011, the defendant withheld payroll taxes from the paychecks of Classic Brass employees. Creighton failed however to make payroll tax payments to the IRS, and failed to file Forms 941 regarding the payment of payroll taxes.

Creighton began Classic Brass in 1996 after working at Chautauqua Hardware for 18 years. The company manufactures interior door hardware; one line for homes in the $1 million to $5 million range; and another for homes in the $5 million to $50 million range. In 2004, Classic Brass moved from a 14,000-square-foot facility on Blackstone Avenue in Jamestown to the Stoneman Business Park in Lakewood for a 30,000-square-foot facility.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Toni M. Weirauch.