U.S. Prosecutors Seek to Revoke Barry's Probation

Failure to Pay Tax Debts, File 2005 Returns Cited

D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) is back in trouble with federal authorities over his income taxes.

Federal prosecutors are seeking to revoke Barry's probation on misdemeanor tax charges because, they say, the former mayor has failed to meet his promises to pay old tax debts and also did not file returns for 2005.

The U.S. attorney's office did not oppose probation for Barry when he was sentenced in March, but his plea agreement called for him to follow the law and work out payments for taxes from 1999 through 2004. Now prosecutors are asking the federal judge in the case to consider sending him to prison.

"The Court's patience should be at an end," Assistant U.S. Attorneys James W. Cooper and Thomas E. Zeno wrote in a motion to Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson, adding that Barry "continues to flout" city and federal laws.

Under sentencing guidelines, Barry could have faced 12 to 18 months in prison for failure to file a federal income tax return and failure to make a District of Columbia return. Now that time could be back on the table if the judge decides that Barry isn't living up to his agreement with prosecutors and his promises to the court.

And that might be only the beginning of his problems in the case. In November, the Internal Revenue Service began garnishing Barry's D.C. Council salary because he failed to follow through with a payment plan for the taxes he owed for 1999 through 2004.

Barry, 70, did not return calls seeking comment.

Frederick D. Cooke Jr., Barry's attorney, said he has not talked to his client about the problem with his 2005 taxes. But Cooke said he expects to file court papers challenging the prosecutors' bid to revoke Barry's probation.

Cooke said he expects a hearing in the next month.

Barry paid $1,000 toward his tax debts in July, and his accountant expressed a willingness to establish a payment plan, an IRS agent said in an affidavit filed by prosecutors in U.S. District Court. But at a meeting in September, Barry's accountant talked about submitting amended returns along with the payment schedule.

Barry has yet to act, the agent, Don M. Sender, said in his affidavit.

Details about the latest tax dispute were first reported over the weekend by CNN.