Longest Sentence Ever Imposed On Tax Cheat
It’s a bit over the top to blame a single tax cheat for the inadequate funding of D.C.’s school system. Shouldn’t blame be equally apportioned to the “no new taxes” crowd who refuse to raise the money needed for school improvements? Shouldn’t we at least recognize that tax fraud (pdf) is a widespread problem?
Federal prosecutors instead assigned the blame for D.C.’s financial woes to Walter Anderson, who tried to conceal $365 million in personal income and thus avoided paying $40 million in taxes to the District.
"At the Dunbar High School gym, the place is an embarrassment," said prosecutor Karen E. Kelly. "The toilets don't work; soap, paper towels and toilet paper are missing; . . . and students choose to go back to class rather than use the showers. The Cardozo High School pool has been closed for 10 years, and the sports program for the entire D.C. school system is run on $1.9 million." she continued. "Do you dare to imagine the program they could have implemented with $40 million of Anderson's tax money?"
She might have dared ask why the administration has tried, rather unsuccessfully, to privatize tax collection while failing to provide sufficient funds for IRS auditors who are more likely to ferret out wealthy tax cheats like Anderson.
Prosecutors say Anderson also failed to pay an estimated $140 million to $178 million in federal income taxes.
She should also explain why her office bungled a plea agreement that took Anderson off the hook for much of his tax debt.
In a major embarrassment to the government's seven-year prosecution of Anderson, the judge ruled he could not order Anderson to make restitution to the IRS for an estimated $140 million of his unpaid federal income taxes. Friedman blamed prosecutors for making a sloppy plea agreement with Anderson.
Despite the prosecution’s rhetoric, Anderson deserved a significant sentence, and he got one: 9 years in prison. It may have been more productive to sentence him to 9 years working in a shelter for the homeless, where he might come to understand that vast wealth is not a measure of superiority to fellow human beings who have had less fortunate lives, and that no man, no matter how wealthy or powerful, is above the law.
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