NY governor's aide failed to pay taxes for 5 yearsALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Gov. David Paterson's chief of staff — a former Jesuit priest who officiated at both the wedding and funeral of John F. Kennedy Jr. — blames depression for failing to file income taxes for years, according to a published report.
Charles O'Byrne, who earns $178,500, has paid more than $200,000 in back taxes, the New York Post reported Saturday.
The tax debt came to light when New York's Department of State filed an outstanding warrant against O'Byrne last year.
"Certainly, I'm ashamed of the fact that this has occurred in my life," the 49-year-old governor's adviser told the newspaper. "But I'm clinically aware of the fact that it is a consequence of an illness over which I had no control."
As a result, "parts of life fall apart," he said, adding that he is no longer undergoing treatment.
Paterson's administration is currently taking a close look at companies and individuals trying to cheat the state on taxes.
The governor hired O'Byrne as a speechwriter in 2004, when the Democrat was state Senate minority leader. Patterson told the Post that he learned the details about O'Byrne's taxes in 2006, when O'Byrne underwent a background probe in preparation for Paterson's run for lieutenant governor.
"He had to find ways of paying off the debt and arrange them and go ahead and pay the debt off," Paterson told the Post. "I'm satisfied that he did that as promptly as he could."
The $200,000 sum included $151,000 to the IRS and $56,000 in state taxes, including various penalties and interest, according to the Post.
The Albany Times Union reported on its Web site that O'Byrne was served with three state tax warrants in the past year and a half, totaling $54,122 with interest and penalties, and that he has paid off two of the warrants. He still has an outstanding warrant for $11,499.71, according to the Department of State.
O'Byrne reportedly did not file state or federal returns for five years, from 2001 to 2005; he worked for the state part of that time.
The Kennedy family has served as his benefactor since he attended law school with President John Kennedy's nephew, Stephen Smith Jr.
The openly gay Manhattan native left the Jesuits to write "Going My Way," his still-unpublished memoir about sexual confusion and repression in the Roman Catholic Church. He also wrote a 2002 article for Playboy magazine about what he said was pervasive sex and hypocrisy in the church.
O'Byrne, who left a career in corporate law for the priesthood, has done legal work for nonprofits and personal investment funds and annuities. He also was a speechwriter for Howard Dean's presidential campaign in 2004.
The tax warrants were filed in New York City, where O'Byrne lives.
Link (here)
Company Magazine bio and photo
No comments:
Post a Comment