Washington, D.C. - United States Attorney Roscoe C. Howard, Jr., Internal Revenue Service Acting Special Agent in Charge Gregory R. Szczeszek and District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue Deputy Chief Financial Officer Phil Brand announced that Andrea D. Mason, 34, a D.C. Government employee with the Office of the Corporation Counsel, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to a two-count Information, charging Filing a False Federal Income Tax Return and Making a False Statement to the D.C. Government. Mason will be sentenced by the Honorable John D. Bates on July 7, 2003, at which time she faces up to 3 years and 180 days of incarceration.

In pleading guilty, Mason admitted that even though she did not reside in the District of Columbia at the time, she filed numerous documents with the District of Columbia government, including an application for employment with the Office of Corporation Counsel, claiming a D.C. residency preference, and enrolled her child in a D.C. public school. Mason similarly claimed D.C. residency on federal and local income tax returns that she filed for the tax years 1994 through 1999. These income tax returns, which were prepared by Emma Robinson in the District of Columbia, falsely overstated itemized deductions and claimed business and rental losses that Mason never incurred. The loss to the federal government totaled $17,935.

Emma Robinson previously pled guilty, on May 10, 2001, in U.S. District Court, to preparing false federal income tax returns in a similar manner for another individual. On November 2, 2001, Robinson was sentenced by the Honorable Henry H. Kennedy Jr. to a period of incarceration of one year and a day.

In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Howard , Internal Revenue Service Acting Special Agent in Charge Gregory R. Szczeszek and D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue Deputy Chief Financial Officer Phil Brand commended the investigatory work of IRS Special Agent Brian Schaub and D.C. Tax and Revenue Special Agent Edmond Wybaillie. They also praised Assistant United States Attorney Susan B. Menzer who prosecuted the case.