DEBRA W. YANG
United States Attorney
Central District of California
Thom Mrozek, Public Affairs Officer
(213) 894-6947
thom.mrozek@usdoj.gov
September 8, 2003
FORMER I.R.S. CRIMINAL AGENT SENTENCED TO OVER 5 YEARS FOR COVERING UP ASSOCIATION WITH PROSTITUTES AND TO PRODUCING A SEXUALLY EXPLICIT DEPICTION OF A MINOR
A former federal law enforcement agent with the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division was sentenced this morning to 63 months in federal prison for covering up his association with prostitutes and for producing a sexually explicit depiction of a minor that he imported into the United States.
Kenneth Philip Fazende, 44, was sentenced by United States District Judge John F. Walter, who also ordered the defendant to register as a sex offender.
According to court documents, in the early morning hours of June 21, 2001, Fazende solicited a 16-year-old prostitute to engage in an act of prostitution. After soliciting the girl on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, Fazende brought the prostitute to his apartment, which was also located in Hollywood. Fazende later went to work in his personal vehicle, leaving the prostitute asleep in his apartment. Later that morning, the prostitute awoke, found the keys to defendant’s unmarked law enforcement vehicle, and stole the vehicle after locating it on the street in front of Fazende’s apartment.
In order to conceal the true facts surrounding the theft of his unmarked law enforcement vehicle, Fazende falsely reported to the Los Angeles Police Department that his apartment was burglarized between June 19, 2001 and June 23, 2001, and that an unknown thief had stolen compact discs and the keys to his law enforcement vehicle. He also filed a Security Incident Report with the IRS and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) with the same false claim.
When he pleaded guilty in July, Fazende also admitted that during the summers of 1999 and 2000, he was involved with at least two other prostitutes. One of those prostitutes stole Fazende’s personal vehicle August 1999.
TIGTA subsequently investigated the theft of Fazende’s law enforcement vehicle. In order to conceal and cover-up his association with prostitutes and the loss of government property provided to him in the course of his official duties, Fazende lied under oath on numerous occasions to TIGTA, and he falsely claimed that he met one of the prostitutes involved in this matter during a preliminary investigation that he was conducting during the course of his official duties as a federal agent. He also attempted to have a former girlfriend and another special agent with the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division provide false information to TIGTA.
On May 21, 2003, Fazende was arrested in San Juan, Puerto Rico on charges related to his concealing and covering up his involvement with prostitutes. During an international border search conducted by the United States Customs Service, inspectors discovered a video camera that contained video footage of defendant engaging in sexual acts with a girl who appeared to be a minor. TIGTA, with assistance from Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, located the minor in Trinidad and confirmed that she was 17 years old when Fazende videotaped himself having sex with her.
On June 10, 2003, special agents from TIGTA served a search warrant on a residence that Fazende shared with his brother in Chattanooga, Tennessee. During their search, the TIGTA agents found another video tape which depicted the same 17-year-old girl and Fazende engaging in sexual acts.
Alan Hatcher, Special Agent in Charge of the San Francisco Field Division for TIGTA, said: "The ethical behaivor of IRS agents is paramount to the IRS' ability to collect tax. This investigation and the resulting sentence indicates our commitment to high ethical standards in government, and the penalties for breaching public confidence."
Release No. 03-019
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