FORMER IRS EMPLOYEE FOUND GUILTY BY JURY FOR FAILURE TO FILE INCOME TAX RETURNS

ATLANTA. – Sherry Jackson, 45, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, was found guilty on October 31, 2007 on multiple charges relating to her failure to file income tax returns in violation of federal law.

The case was jointly prosecuted by the Tax Division and the United States Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Georgia. In response to the quick jury verdict, U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said, “The jury took less than 25 minutes to find this former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent guilty. This case is a reminder that all of us, even those who used to work with the IRS and know the rules well, have to submit our tax returns and pay the taxes due.”

According to the evidence at trial: commencing in 2000, Jackson, a former Revenue Agent with the IRS, willfully and intentionally did not file her own individual tax returns. During that same time period, however, she operated a tax return preparation business and continued to prepare, submit and file individual tax returns for her clients. For the next three years, JACKSON intentionally did not file her tax returns, despite an income of over $400,000 in that time period.

According to testimony at trial, Jackson said she did not file the her individual returns because she did not know what the term “individual” meant in tax law. The evidence showed that Jackson in fact knew her legal duty to file with the IRS, and intentionally chose to disregard the law.

Sentencing for Jackson is expected to be in January 2008 before United States District Judge Orinda Evans, although an exact date has not yet been set by the court.

This case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation, and prosecuted by Tax Division attorney Joseph Giannullo, and AUSA Richard M. Lanway.

###