A Mississippi woman has pleaded guilty to paying $2,000 in cash to an IRS employee in an attempt to get her federal tax liability reduced.
Rene Coleman, 63, of Jackson, Miss., pled guilty in federal court last Thursday to bribery of a public official. The investigation, which was conducted by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Office of Investigations, began when Coleman, during a routine audit, offered to pay the employee if she reduced the amount of money Coleman owed to the IRS.
The employee notified her supervisor of Coleman’s overture and thereafter federal law enforcement agents were contacted.
Coleman will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III, on April 27, 2011, and faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
