Prominent Grower Is Given 6 1/2 Years in Tax-Bribery Case : Justice: ‘I have no excuse,’ Mario Saikhon of Imperial Valley tells judge. The judge adds $1.25 million in fines to $22 million in back taxes already paid in the largest bribe case in IRS annals.

Mario Saikhon, a prominent Imperial County farmer who had pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court to felony tax and bribery charges and had already paid about $22 million in back taxes, was sentenced Monday to 6 1/2 years in prison and fined an added $1.25 million.

Saikhon, who ran one of the largest farming operations in Southern California, apologized to U.S. District Judge Gordon Thompson Jr. for what he called a “breach of trust.”

Saikhon, 59, was accused of giving $647,518 in bribes to an Internal Revenue Service agent to evade more than $10 million in taxes. Reading from his own notes and pausing several times to maintain his composure, he told the judge, “I have no excuse because what I did was inexcusable.”

The sentencing closes a case that involved the largest bribe in the annals of the Internal Revenue Service. It also produced the largest settlement of an individual’s tax case in U.S. history.

And it stands to dominate events in the tiny Imperial County town of Holtville, population 5,100, where Saikhon’s self-made farming empire was based. Knowing he was headed for prison, Saikhon told local officials several weeks ago that he planned to lay off his 2,215 employees effective Oct. 2, and close his farm.

“It will really hurt, not only in Holtville but around our county,” since the Imperial County unemployment rate is about 32%, Holtville City Manger Richard Ferguson said Monday. “It’s sad,” Ferguson said. “We hope there’s a demand for (Saikhon’s) business, that someone will take it over, and that it won’t be as bad as it sounds. But so far we’ve heard nothing.”

From 1985 to 1990, according to the indictment against him, Saikhon’s vegetable fields--lettuce, cantaloupe and a variety of other crops--grossed more than $130 million.

The indictment alleged that Saikhon paid the $647,518 in bribes during the 1980s to IRS auditor Robert Morales, to concoct a scheme to evade more than $10 million in taxes.

Morales, 63, of El Cajon, is serving a 12-year prison term. His son, Robert A. Morales Jr., 29, of El Cajon, admitted that he also took part in the scheme, and is serving a 41-month prison sentence.

In a plea bargain struck June 9, Saikhon pleaded guilty to seven of 22 felony counts and agreed to pay the back taxes with interest, penalties and late fees--$21.8 million, the largest settlement ever against one person in a criminal tax case, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Phillip L. B. Halpern, who led the prosecution. Saikhon made the last payment Sept. 1.

By comparison, prosecutors said, Leona Helmsley’s crimes pale in comparison. The New York hotel queen, now serving four years in federal prison, was convicted of evading $1.7 million in taxes. She also was hit for about $8 million in fines, for a total payment of $9.7 million.

Spared the burden of a trial, prosecutors agreed to recommend to Judge Thompson that Saikhon, who faced up to 45 years behind bars, serve a 78-month term, or 6 1/2 years.

Defense lawyer Bruce Hochman urged Thompson Monday to give Saikhon only 70 months, saying Saikhon had “accepted responsibility” for his crimes.

“I don’t feel (that’s) appropriate,” Thompson said, fixing the term at 78 months.

Thompson ordered Saikhon to surrender Nov. 9 to federal marshals. Until then, Saikhon remains free on $5 million bail.