Wilmington – Attorney General Beau Biden announced that the former owner of a local transportation company was sentenced to prison today for failing to pay more than half a million dollars in state taxes over a five year period.  Kristin L. Aulenbach, the former president of Eagle Transportation Services, a luxury chauffeur service formerly based in New Castle, pled guilty on April 12 to one felony count of failure to pay withholding taxes to the Delaware Division of Revenue and one misdemeanor count of failure to pay unemployment taxes to the Delaware Department of Labor.

“Employers who fail to pay their taxes place an additional burden on law-abiding, tax-paying citizens who have to pay more than their fair share for important public services like schools and police,” Biden said.

In pleading guilty, Aulenbach admitted that Eagle Transportation failed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes between October, 2005 and March, 2011.  She was sentenced this morning by Superior Court Judge Richard R. Cooch to three months in prison, followed by two years of probation.   She was also ordered to pay restitution of $528,000 to Delaware, including $265,000 to the Department of Labor for unemployment taxes and interest and $263,000 to the Division of Revenue for income taxes the company withheld from employee paychecks but failed to pay to the State.

The criminal charges stem from an investigation initiated by the Delaware Department of Finance, Division of Revenue Criminal Investigation Unit and the Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Unemployment Insurance during an ongoing review of tax records.  When the investigation revealed credible evidence of the violations the agencies referred the case to the Attorney General’s office for criminal prosecution.

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Joins Dewey Beach as one of the nation’s Superstar Beaches

REHOBOTH BEACH (June 29, 2012) Today, Rehoboth Beach received national recognition as a Superstar Beach, joining with Dewey Beach as Delaware’s 5-star  beaches – two of the top beaches in the country for swimming water quality.

Recognized by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in their report, “Testing the Waters,” released June 27, Rehoboth and Dewey were among only 13 beaches of 3,000 beaches nationwide awarded 5-star ratings for perfect swimming water quality for the past three years. This marks the second year in a row that Rehoboth and Dewey Beaches were awarded Superstar status.

In the report, the NRDC had awarded Rehoboth Beach a 4-star rating based upon the reported frequency of water quality monitoring. After the release of the report, DNREC’s Recreational Water Quality Testing Program staff contacted the NRDC with data that all Delaware’s ocean beaches were monitored twice weekly. Today, the NRDC determined that water quality monitoring met the frequency criteria and awarded Rehoboth Beach the 5-star rating.

Each year the NRDC evaluates two of the most popular beaches in each state for consideration of the 5-star rating. As Delaware’s most visited beaches, Rehoboth and Dewey Beaches were the only beaches in the state evaluated by the NRDC for Superstar Beach status. The report cited that the Delaware’s Atlantic beaches – Cape Henlopen State Park, Rehoboth, Dewey, Bethany, South Bethany, Delaware Seashore State Park, Fenwick Island, and Fenwick Island State Park –had perfect swimming water quality in 2011, with no swimming advisories issued.

“With Delaware receiving top honors nationally and both Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach being recognized again by NRDC, Delaware is emerging as the most pristine beach destination in the nation,” said DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara.  “By serving as stewards of our treasured natural resources, we can maintain this advantage for years to come.”

The NRDC also recognized all of Delaware’s beaches with the highest national ranking for beach water quality. The state ranked 1^st out of 30 states for the cleanest water quality overall.

For more information on the NRDC report, “Testing the Waters,” visit www.nrdc.org.

For more information on Delaware’s Recreational Water Quality Testing Program and the DNREC’s Watershed Assessment Section, visit www.dnrec.delaware.gov.

The signers of the Declaration of Independence did not take their signatures lightly.  We do indeed hold these truths to be self-evident now, and we can indeed see with certainty and clarity the just nature of their grievances against the crown. But while the rights were certainly unalienable, their personal safety after declaring those rights was by no means guaranteed.

Hundreds of years of relative prosperity since that signing have proven to the world what those brave patriots knew as true back then. They knew – and declared – that our bedrock values of equality, freedom and liberty are the strongest possible foundation on which to build a new nation. They knew that to support that nation and ensure those values, they and we must “pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” In other words – they knew that these freedoms –  so clearly worth dying for, even by their declaration – are based on the connections we make and hold with one another while living. And they knew, and declared, that those connections are made clearly manifest – through a government created by the will of the people and focused on securing the rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness for all those governed.

Hundreds of years later, it’s still that purpose and promise that guides us.  It’s why – at least here in Delaware – we’re committed to reducing the size and scope of government when it infringes on those freedoms, but also committed to putting that government to work, to get people back to work, to give our kids the tools they need to succeed in their own pursuits of happiness as adults, and protect people’s health and safety.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be signing some bills into law that serve those purposes.  But for now, and over the next few days, I hope you’ll join me at Fourth of July celebrations across the state to look back on the courage and wisdom of those signers of our Declaration of Independence and renew our shared commitment to those core values that brought our nation to life back then, and guide us together now, as we work together to keep Delaware, moving forward.

DOVER – In his weekly message, the Governor focuses on the freedoms we enjoy and celebrate this fourth of July at a time when the session of the Delaware General Assembly draws to conclusion.

“The signers of the Declaration of Independence did not take their signatures lightly. Hundreds of years later, it’s still that purpose and promise that guides us. It’s why – at least here in Delaware – we’re committed to reducing the size and scope of government when it infringes on those freedoms, but also committed to putting that government to work, to get people back to work, to give our kids the tools they need to succeed in their own pursuits of happiness as adults, and protect people’s health and safety,” said the Governor. “For now, and over the next few days, I hope you’ll join me at Fourth of July celebrations across the state to look back on the courage and wisdom of those signers of our Declaration of Independence and renew our shared commitment to those core values that brought our nation to life back then, and guide us together now, as we work together to keep Delaware, moving forward.”

At noon every Friday, the Governor’s office releases a new Weekly Message in video, audio, and transcript form. The message is available on:

YouTube: http://youtu.be/A2e9ABtQzHY
Delaware.Gov: http://governor.delaware.gov/information/podcast_video.shtml
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Transcript of the Governor’s Weekly Message: Fourth of July Freedoms

Wilmington – Attorney General Beau Biden announced that the former owner of a local transportation company was sentenced to prison today for failing to pay more than half a million dollars in state taxes over a five year period.  Kristin L. Aulenbach, the former president of Eagle Transportation Services, a luxury chauffeur service formerly based in New Castle, pled guilty on April 12 to one felony count of failure to pay withholding taxes to the Delaware Division of Revenue and one misdemeanor count of failure to pay unemployment taxes to the Delaware Department of Labor.

            “Employers who fail to pay their taxes place an additional burden on law-abiding, tax-paying citizens who have to pay more than their fair share for important public services like schools and police,” Biden said.

In pleading guilty, Aulenbach admitted that Eagle Transportation failed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes between October, 2005 and March, 2011.  She was sentenced this morning by Superior Court Judge Richard R. Cooch to three months in prison, followed by two years of probation.   She was also ordered to pay restitution of $528,000 to Delaware, including $265,000 to the Department of Labor for unemployment taxes and interest and $263,000 to the Division of Revenue for income taxes the company withheld from employee paychecks but failed to pay to the State.

The criminal charges stem from an investigation initiated by the Delaware Department of Finance, Division of Revenue Criminal Investigation Unit and the Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Unemployment Insurance during an ongoing review of tax records.  When the investigation revealed credible evidence of the violations the agencies referred the case to the Attorney General’s office for criminal prosecution.

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