Gavin Guilty Plea

BATON ROUGE, LA - United States Attorney Donald J. Cazayoux, Jr. announced today that JEANNE L. GAVIN, age 61, of Baton Rouge, pled guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Brian A. Jackson to exceeding authorized access to a government computer, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1030, and engaging in a criminal conflict of interest, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 205. As a result, the defendant faces up to two years in prison, a $200,000 fine, and one year of supervised release following imprisonment. Sentencing is scheduled for September 12, 2013.

The defendant’s convictions stem from actions she took while serving as a Supervisory Internal Revenue Agent and Group Manager in the Baton Rouge office of the Internal Revenue Service. In that role, the defendant supervised approximately ten revenue agents responsible for determining federal tax liability and collecting owing taxes for individual, partnership, and corporate taxpayers.

During today’s hearing, the defendant admitted that, while working for the IRS, she engaged in a criminal conflict of interest with her IRS employment by owning and operating a private tax and accounting business which generated over $70,000. The defendant further admitted to using her position as an IRS Manager to improperly cause subordinates to access IRS databases on over 2000 occasions for the benefit of her private tax and accounting business.

U.S. Attorney Cazayoux stated: “My office, together with our federal, state, and local partners, will continue to aggressively pursue instances of public corruption wherever found. Public confidence in our governmental institutions, particularly those agencies entrusted to tax collection, is vitally important. The criminal acts of a few undermine such confidence, while overshadowing the honest efforts of the vast majority of public servants. My great appreciation to the Office of Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) who worked tirelessly with our office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in this important matter.”

Inspector General J. Russell George of TIGTA stated: “As our voluntary system of tax administration relies heavily upon the public’s confidence in a fair tax system, IRS employees must conduct themselves with the highest level of integrity and their conduct must be above reproach. Our message is loud and clear: TIGTA will vigorously investigate and recommend criminal prosecution for any IRS employee who violates the law.”

This matter was investigated by this office, TIGTA, and the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Corey R. Amundson who serves as the Senior Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division.