WPost: Barry Pleads Guilty in Tax Case
- From: kuacou241@xxxxxxxxx
- Date: 29 Oct 2005 01:56:03 -0700
Barry Pleads Guilty in Tax Case
Ex-Mayor to Seek Probation for Misdemeanor Convictions
By Yolanda Woodlee and Henri E. Cauvin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, October 29, 2005; A01
Photo:
http://tinyurl.com/clv3e
Caption:
Marion Barry, saluting well-wishers outside court, earned more than
$530,000 during his hiatus from office but never filed a tax return
documenting it.
Photo Credit: By Michael Williamson -- The Washington Post Photo
Former D.C. mayor Marion Barry pleaded guilty yesterday to two
misdemeanor tax charges, admitting in federal court that he failed to
pay most of his income taxes for five years after departing from the
District government in 1999.
Barry, who returned to politics last year after being elected to
represent Ward 8 on the D.C. Council, earned more than $530,000 during
his five-year hiatus from office but never filed a tax return
documenting the income, prosecutors said.
Outside the courthouse, Barry voiced regret but offered no explanation.
"I made a mistake," he said in brief remarks after the plea.
Barry (D), who faces up to 18 months behind bars and criminal fines of
up to $30,000, will seek probation when he is sentenced Jan. 18, his
attorney, Frederick D. Cooke Jr., said in court. It was,
coincidentally, on that date in 1990 that Barry was arrested at the
Vista Hotel after being videotaped smoking crack, an image that for
years has haunted him and the city he led. Prosecutors said they will
take no position on Barry's sentence.
The tax investigation centered on Barry's income in the years after he
left the mayor's office in January 1999. The Internal Revenue Service
started sending him delinquency notices in 2002 and continued to do so
for about three years. Earlier this year, with the taxes still unpaid,
a criminal investigation was launched.
A grand jury began hearing evidence of the alleged fraud, and the
prospect of felony charges loomed for Barry, who is 69 and no longer
the indefatigable figure he was earlier in his political career. A
cancer survivor, Barry has diabetes and high blood pressure and has
been hospitalized at least three times this year.
With the potential consequences apparent, Barry and his attorney moved
swiftly to bring the investigation to a close, according to
prosecutors. After being informed of the criminal inquiry, Barry
immediately agreed to file returns, pay all taxes due and admit his
crimes, the prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorneys James W. Cooper and
Thomas E. Zeno, said in papers presented yesterday in court.
Barry, his attorney and prosecutors have been working toward a plea
agreement for the past few weeks. Because the charges are misdemeanors,
not felonies, Barry will be able to remain on the council. He signed
off on the agreement yesterday morning, and hours later, he was in the
courtroom.
Wearing a charcoal suit, a dark tie and a white shirt with monogrammed
French cuffs, Barry listened as Cooper outlined the offenses to
Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson. Asked by Robinson whether the
allegations were true, Barry paused briefly and said, "Yes, it's
accurate."
Charged with one count of failing to pay his federal income taxes and
one count of failing to pay his District taxes, both for calendar year
2000, Barry was summoned to a podium in the well of the courtroom to
enter his plea.
After each charge was read by courtroom clerk Lorita Miller, Barry
said, "Guilty, your honor."
Investigators found no evidence of tax evasion, the prosecutors said.
Tax evasion -- a felony charge -- is the deliberate misrepresentation
of income records in an effort to lower the amount of taxes owed.
Sources close to the investigation said that Barry was not charged with
tax evasion because some employers had withheld taxes and some tax
forms had been filed, which proved that he was not trying to hide his
income.
Barry has agreed to make arrangements with the IRS to resolve his tax
debt, which is a civil matter.
During the five years when his taxes went unpaid, Barry did not have a
regular job or salary, but he took on a variety of projects.
He was hired as a consultant for several companies, including M.R. Beal
& Co., an investment banking company that paid him more than $250,000
over five years. He also did consulting work for the Vienna-based
developer KSI Services Inc. and National Corrections and Rehabilitation
Corp., a company that operated group homes.
In an interview during last year's council campaign, Barry acknowledged
that money was tight. He added, "I ain't too proud to beg."
As a council member, Barry is paid $92,520 a year. He also is eligible
to receive a $34,000 annual pension from the government.
Barry's political career goes back more than three decades. He was
elected mayor in 1978 and easily won reelection to second and third
terms. He was in his third term when the FBI videotaped him smoking
crack at the Vista; he later was convicted of one count of misdemeanor
drug possession.
Soon after completing a six-month prison sentence, Barry launched a
political comeback. He won a D.C. Council seat in 1992 and a fourth
term as mayor two years later.
Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) said in a statement that he is pleased
that Barry's tax matters are being resolved.
"I've always admired Marion Barry; however, no one is above the law --
everyone needs to file both their federal and District taxes on time
and accurately," Williams's statement said. "I understand that former
Mayor Barry has agreed to make full restitution, and now I look forward
-- and I am sure that he does too -- to moving on to other issues."
The tax bills, though, are not the only expenses Barry faces over legal
issues. He has yet to fully pay a $35,000 court judgment stemming from
a run-in with a custodian at Baltimore-Washington International Airport
in 2000.
The custodian, Terrie Jenkins, accused Barry in a lawsuit of shoving
her and exposing himself in an airport bathroom. Her attorney, Barry
Glazer, said that Barry failed to make payments, so his paycheck is
being garnished $1,131 a month.
Barry also has not settled a dispute over money with Dion Jordan, who
served as the campaign manager in his bid for the Ward 8 council seat
last year. Jordan alleged that the campaign owed him $3,700, and he got
a court judgment ordering Barry and the campaign to pay up; Jordan said
he is still owed about $1,500.
Barry and his fourth wife, Cora Masters Barry, separated in 2002, and
he has since lived in a couple of apartments, including his current
residence in Southeast Washington. A year after the separation, some of
Barry's close advisers established a trust to help pay his rent and
other personal expenses.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/28/AR2005102801028.html
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