Ex-IRS Clerk Pleads Guilty to Removing Data
A former mail clerk at an Internal Revenue Service center in Santa Ana has pleaded guilty to charges that he unlawfully removed and concealed thousands of IRS records, including more than $800,000 in taxpayer payments.
Michael J. Baker, 20, of Santa Ana admitted in Los Angeles federal court on Monday that he took the records contained in about 40 mail sacks to his apartment so he could work on them at home.
IRS officials said the removal of records, which occurred between May of 1984 and last March, did not affect the processing of 1984 federal income-tax returns.
Also, no loss of taxpayer payments to the government were reported as a result of Baker’s activities, according to Robert McKeever, IRS director for the Laguna Niguel district.
Baker was arrested after a three-month investigation by IRS officials, who accused him of removing more than 11,000 pieces of mail and more than $800,000 in taxpayers’ payments from the IRS automated collection facility in Santa Ana.
Baker faces a maximum penalty of 12 years in prison and an $8,000 fine.
U.S. District Judge Richard A. Gadbois Jr. set sentencing for Aug. 5.
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