FLORIDA SALES TAX ARREST – HOLLYWOOD USED CAR DEALER

FLORIDA SALES TAX ARREST – HOLLYWOOD USED CAR DEALER

August 24, 2026 | By James H. Sutton, Jr., CPA, Esq.

Used car dealers remain one of the Florida Department of Revenue's favorite targets, and a Broward County case shows why. Alexander Medina, 42, the sole owner, manager, and registered agent of Next Level Auto LLC, doing business as Next Level Auto in Hollywood, was arrested on July 31, 2026, and booked into the Broward County Main Jail on an outstanding warrant issued in late 2025. According to a probable cause affidavit from the Florida Department of Revenue, Medina collected at least $77,431.79 in sales tax from customers between May 2023 and February 2025 and kept it instead of remitting it to the state. Investigators say Medina was the only person responsible for filing the dealership's monthly sales tax returns and making its tax payments, and that Department of Revenue employees made at least 16 attempts to contact him about the growing delinquency, including three in-person meetings at the Department's Coral Springs Service Center. During those meetings, Medina allegedly acknowledged that he was responsible for collecting and remitting the tax, filing the returns, making business decisions, and signing company checks. Despite that, investigators say he stopped filing sales tax returns altogether beginning in January 2024, all while continuing to operate the dealership. A subsequent request for business records went unanswered, and Medina did not appear for a voluntary interview during the criminal investigation.

At $77,431.79, Medina faces a second-degree felony for theft of state funds, punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Under Florida law, once collected-but-unremitted sales tax crosses $20,000, the charge escalates from a third-degree felony to a second-degree felony; cross $100,000, and it becomes a first-degree felony carrying up to 30 years. What stands out in this case is not the dollar amount — it is the paper trail. Sixteen documented contact attempts and three in-person meetings at a Department service center is about as far from “the state just came out of nowhere” as it gets. Auto dealers, in particular, are a favorite audit and investigation target because the numbers are large, the transactions are easy to trace through DMV records, and a single deal can generate thousands of dollars in sales tax that a struggling dealer may be tempted to use for floor-plan financing, payroll, or rent instead of remitting it. None of that matters to the statute. Sales tax collected from a customer is money the dealer is holding in trust for the State of Florida the moment it hits the register, and using it for anything else — even to keep the lot open — is theft of state funds in the eyes of the law, not a civil debt that can be negotiated away or discharged in bankruptcy.

The last thing you want to do when you have been charged with sales tax fraud is to represent yourself, use a public defender, or hire an attorney that doesn’t really do sales tax fraud cases. Our law firm has represented Florida business owners before the Department of Revenue for more than 30 years, including over a thousand sales tax criminal investigations and post-arrest representation with state attorneys' offices and in court, with particular experience defending auto dealers who find themselves in exactly this position. The moment a Department of Revenue investigator starts making contact — whether it is a letter, a phone call, or a visit to a service center — is the moment to get experienced sales tax counsel involved, not after a warrant has already been issued. By the time a case reaches the stage this one did, the options narrow considerably.

About the Author

James H. Sutton, Jr., CPA, Esq. is a State and Local Tax (SALT) attorney who practices almost exclusively on Florida sales and use tax controversy. James is a Shareholder at the Law Offices of Moffa, Sutton & Donnini, P.A. and has been a licensed Certified Public Accountant since 1994 and a member of The Florida Bar since 1998. Since 2002, Mr. Sutton has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Stetson University College of Law, teaching State and Local Tax, and also teaches Sales and Use Tax at Boston University School of Law's LLM in Taxation program. If you have any questions, then Mr. Sutton has a FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION policy. He can be reached directly at 813-775-2131 or JamesSutton@FloridaSalesTax.com.

About the Firm

The Law Offices of Moffa, Sutton & Donnini, P.A. is a Florida law firm that practices almost exclusively in the area of Florida state and local tax (SALT) controversy, with offices in Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, and Tallahassee. Collectively, the firm's attorneys bring over 200 years of combined experience handling Florida sales tax audits, criminal investigations, protests, and litigation. Learn more at www.FloridaSalesTax.com.

Additional Resources

Florida Sales Tax Criminal Investigations: When Sales Tax Experience Matters, published June 24, 2026, by James H Sutton, Jr, CPA Esq.

FLORIDA SALES TAX ARREST – PALM BEACH BBQ & SEAFOOD OWNER published August 23, 2026, by James H Sutton, Jr, CPA Esq.

Florida Sales Tax Voluntary Disclosure: The Best Way to Clean Up a Florida Sales Tax Problem published May 26, 2026, by James H Sutton, Jr, CPA Esq.

FLORIDA SALES TAX ARREST – FT LAUDERALE CAR DEALER published June 9, 2025, by James H Sutton, Jr, CPA Esq.

FLORIDA SALES TAX ARREST – PALM BEACH PIZZERIA OWNER published March 4, 2026, by James H Sutton, Jr, CPA Esq.