Prosecutors Seek to Seek Jail for Ex-Mayor Marion Barry for Failing to File His Taxes the Eighth Time in Nine Years

Well, Washington D.C.'s ex-mayor Marion Barry is in the news again. And yes, the possibility of prison is being thrown around again. Either this man is a complete moron or he's insane. Prosecutors asked a federal judge Monday to send him to jail for failing to file his tax returns for the eighth time in nine years. The man is 72 years old. When is he going to take personal responsibility and stop acting with such reckless indifference. In a motion filed in U.S. District Court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Zeno said Barry, who's also a current District of Columbia Council member did not file his taxes in 2007, violating his probation for previous tax offenses.

Barry was given three years of probation in 2006 after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges for failing to file his tax returns from 1999 to 2004. As part of a plea bargain, he agreed to file future federal and local tax returns annually. Two years ago, however, prosecutors sought to have that probation revoked after Barry failed to file his 2005 taxes. But U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson refused, ruling that prosecutors did not prove Barry willfully failed to file his returns, even if he was aware that he missed the deadline.

In Monday's motion, prosecutors noted that Barry has now failed to file his taxes on time for the eighth time in nine years and called his conduct "indefensible." "It is not acceptable for any citizen to shirk a basic civil duty, let alone a former mayor and a current city councilman who has been responsible in the past and continues to be responsible for spending public funds collected from District of Columbia taxpayers," the motion states. Source: WTOP

So, any fool knows that once you are on probation, you have to be very careful not to violate the terms or prison is a very real possibility. Now, had that been you or I, we would be incarcerated. Why is it that the Internal Revenue Service picks on the "little people" and tax vagrants like Marion Barry are given the benefit of the doubt repeatedly?

Barry is no stranger to a prison cell, so he should be right at home if he is incarcerated this time around. In 1990, during the third term of his four terms, he was videotaped in a hotel room smoking crack cocaine in an FBI sting. He served a six-month prison sentence and in 1994 was re-elected to the mayor's office for another four-year term.