Ex-IRS Employee Gets 12-Year Term

A former IRS auditor was sentenced Thursday in San Diego to 12 years in federal prison for his role in a decade-long conspiracy that included bribery and tax evasion.

Robert Morales Sr. was also fined $607,000 by U.S. District Court Judge Edward Rafeedie, who found that Morales accepted this amount in bribes.

Morales and his son, Robert Morales Jr., were convicted in a case that Assistant U.S. Atty. Phillip Halpern called the largest bribe scheme in the history of the IRS.

The elder Morales received “a very fair sentence that is sufficient to make all members of the public realize that this type of behavior will not be tolerated in our society,” Halpern said.

Originally charged in a 201-count indictment, Morales Sr. was convicted of assisting in the establishment of bogus corporations that were used to hide income received by Mario Saikhon, one of the largest growers in the Imperial Valley.

The 63-year-old Morales, of El Cajon, was too emotional to read a prepared statement in court Thursday, but his defense attorney, Eugene Iredale, read it on his behalf.

“I would like to sincerely apologize to the court and to the people of the United States because I participated in wrongdoing against them,” the statement read.