AP News, June 22nd, 2007
A federal judge declined Thursday to revoke former Mayor Marion Barry's probation, which would have sent him to prison for failing to file his 2005 tax returns on time.
Barry, 71 and now on the District of Columbia Council, pleaded guilty in 2005 to misdemeanor charges for failing to file tax returns from 1999 to 2004. As part of his plea bargain, he agreed to file future federal and local tax returns annually.
But prosecutors accused Barry of missing deadlines for filing federal and D.C. tax returns for 2005. They argued in court filings that Barry "has not acted like a person who has been given the opportunity of probation and should not be treated like one."
In her decision Thursday, Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson ruled that prosecutors did not prove Barry willfully failed to file his returns, even if he was aware that he missed the deadline.
"It's good to have a good God, a good lawyer and a good judge," Barry said. "That's what we had in this case. Maybe this might be the last time they bring these frivolous cases."
Last week, Barry was acquitted of drunken driving and other offenses stemming from an incident last year in which he was pulled over by Secret Service agents near the White House. He still faces an August court date on suspicion of driving an unregistered vehicle in December.
Barry served four terms as mayor. In his third term, he was videotaped in 1990 in a hotel room smoking crack cocaine in an FBI sting. He served a six-month prison sentence and in 1994 regained the mayor's office for another four-year term.
Under the terms of his guilty plea regarding the returns from 1999-2004, Barry agreed to pay all taxes due and cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service and D.C. tax authorities. Prosecutors claim he failed to file his 2005 federal and D.C. returns on time, even after receiving an extension. Barry filed both in February, after prosecutors said they wanted his probation revoked.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Zeno read statements Barry made in court in 2005 while pleading guilty.
"He came in and said there is no excuse," Zeno told the judge. "It is an absolute knowledge on his part that there is no excuse for failure to file."
Barry's lawyer, Frederick Cooke, told Robinson that Barry eventually complied by filing the tardy returns. Asked later why he missed the deadline even with the extension, Barry did not respond. Cooke also would not answer.
"I can't say, I won't say," Cooke told reporters.
In court filings, Barry noted the IRS was garnisheeing his city council wages to recoup past taxes, penalties and interest. Barry called the IRS payment demands "excessive."
