WebCPA reports that a man who drove his SUV into an IRS building in Birmingham in 2008 has been sentenced to 52 months in prison:
Ernest Milton Barnett pleaded guilty in March to a two-count indictment that charged him with using a deadly weapon, specifically a Jeep Cherokee Sport Utility Vehicle, in his Aug. 26, 2008, assault on IRS employees. It also charged him with willfully damaging government property.
Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins ordered Barnett, 50, on Wednesday to serve 52 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. She ordered him to report to prison on Oct. 12. The judge also ordered Barnett to pay more than $3,000 in restitution to the IRS and IRS employees injured in the assault.
“This defendant undertook a senseless and outrageous attack on a government building filled with people in order to protest a long-standing tax debt, and innocent and unsuspecting federal employees were injured,” U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance said in a statement. “Such a premeditated and unwarranted assault against the federal government demands punishment.”
According to the government’s sentencing memorandum, Barnett conducted the assault as follows: He grew angry during a telephone conversation that morning with an IRS employee and left his Center Point home en route to the IRS building to exact revenge on the government agency.
He was seen driving in both directions around the IRS building before crossing over a curb onto a grassy area at the back of the building. He began to spin his vehicle around, then aimed it at the wall, accelerated and rammed into a window. As employees inside began to flee the breaking glass, Barnett backed up, re-aimed the vehicle and struck the building again.
Mounting a literal attack against the IRS is one of the worst ways to deal with an IRS problem. I recommend that whenever you get the urge to use your car as a missile, instead pour yourself a double Scotch and then lie down and wait until the feeling passes.
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- Anti-rich Taxpayer Burns House, Crashes Plane into IRS Building
3 responses so far ↓
1 20 20 tax resolution articles // Sep 27, 2010 at 3:59 am
That is a very serious scenario as well as the worst thing to encounter IRS. Imagine, 52 months which almost 5 years. That is so wicked.
2 TIGTA is Worried About Security of IRS Employees // Dec 10, 2010 at 10:40 am
[...] Taxpayer who Crashed his SUV into IRS Building Gets 52 Months Lodging at Taxpayer Expense [...]
3 Peter // Dec 10, 2010 at 10:48 am
20 20,
I have no idea what you just said.
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