[PR] Former Office of Tax and Revenue Head of Collections Sentenced for Paying Bribes to OTR Official to Help Consulting Client

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, December 3, 2020

WASHINGTON - Bobby Tucker, 63, former Chief of Collections for the District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue (“OTR”) was sentenced today to 14 months of incarceration for his conviction for a bribery charge stemming from a scheme in which he paid bribes to an OTR official in order to reduce the tax liabilities of a business he consulted and to take other actions to benefit Tucker’s business interests as opportunities arose. 

            The announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin, Special Agent in Charge James A. Dawson of the FBI Washington Field Office, Criminal Division and Inspector General Daniel W. Lucas, District of Columbia’s Office of Inspector General.

            Tucker, of Suffolk, Virginia, pled guilty to bribery on June 12, 2020.  On December 3, 2020, Tucker was sentenced by Chief Judge Beryl Howell to 14 months of incarceration and two years of supervised release, along with a $10,000 fine and a special assessment of $100.

            According to the government’s evidence, Tucker agreed to pay an OTR official, who was working as a confidential source, to obtain referrals of city taxpayers with outstanding tax liabilities.  With respect to one such referral, Tucker paid $5,000 in bribes to the OTR official in exchange for that official wiping out nearly $150,000 in tax liability for a business organization operating in the District of Columbia. 

            In announcing the sentence, Acting U.S. Attorney Sherwin, Special Agent in Charge Dawson, and Inspector General Lucas commended the work of those who investigated the case from the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Office of the Inspector General for the District of Columbia.  They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Lallas and Paralegal Specialists Amanda Rohde and Stephanie Frijas.