WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence a former IRS contractor to five years in prison. leaking tax records former President Donald Trump and other wealthy Americans to the media.
In court filings Tuesday, prosecutors urged the judge to sentence Charles Littlejohn, of Washington, to the statutory maximum of five years in prison. admitted his guilt A number of unauthorized disclosures of tax return information in October. Littlejohn also admitted to leaking tax records belonging to “more than a thousand” other wealthy people.
In a plea deal last year, government attorneys estimated a prison sentence of eight to 14 months under federal sentencing guidelines, with both sides reserving the right to deviate from those guidelines, prosecutor Jonathan Jacobson said Tuesday.
But he also called the range of sentences “totally disproportionate to the gravity of the crime”.
“The scope and scale of the defendant’s illegal disclosures seem unprecedented in IRS history,” Jacobson said. “There is no precedent for the disclosure of tax returns and return information relating to ‘more than a thousand’ individuals and legal entities.”
In 2020, The New York Times published report Trump has access to more than two decades of tax information and he had paid A total of $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017. ProPublica the following year published report to the taxes of rich people.
Attorneys for Littlejohn did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday night.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 29 before Washington District Judge Ana J. Reyes.
Daniel Barnes reported from Washington and Zoe Richards from New York.