By FITSNews || City of Columbia (S.C.) Councilman E.W. Cromartie has agreed to plead guilty to federal income tax evasion, multiple local media outlets are reporting.
Cromartie – one of South Carolina’s legendary “poverty pimp” politicians – failed to pay more than $25,000 in taxes in 2004, and also made numerous “small cash deposits” in an effort to avoid IRS minimums on transaction reporting requirements. He’s facing up to 25 years behind bars and $1 million in fines, although it appears obvious that he’s got a deal of some sort in the works with prosecutors.
It hasn’t been the a good year so far for Cromartie – whose liquor store in an “underprivileged” part of the city was busted selling alcohol to minors two weeks ago.
A week earlier, Cromartie voted in favor of the city’s $154 million bailout of a failed downtown University of South Carolina “research campus.”
Incidentally, a local website – The Pulse of Columbia – is reporting that Columbia mayoral front-runner Steve Benjamin was meeting with Cromartie on Monday.
UPDATE: Cromartie’s plea will give him a year (and a day) in jail … hmmmm … stay tuned.
By Genomic Repairman March 8, 2010 at 8:32 pm
Republicans can’t keep their dicks in the pants, and democrats can’t pay taxes. Hopefully republicans and democrats don’t get together and foster bastard children with no sense of fiscal responsibility.
By Art March 8, 2010 at 9:17 pm
What a deal this attorney got. Other attorney’s had to pay more and spend more time behind bars. Thanks to the many advanages for passing the Bar in S.C.
By CNChapin March 9, 2010 at 9:07 am
Umm, yeah, I fail to see the problem with not paying the tyrannical federal government their extortion money. I say more people just should flatly refuse to pay federal extortion money, I mean “taxes”, so we can starve the tyrants out. BTW, I’m NOT a fan of Democrats, I’m just a fan of anyone who can get away with not paying the federal government for any length of time.
Oh, and genomic repairman, there is not any “fiscal responsibility” to be had when it comes to taxes. Taxation is force. I do not OWE any government a damned thing. They TAKE it from US. I am not giving them money in exchange for a enumerated good or service. I am paying into their extortion funded slush fund. They can run up whatever tab they see fit for anything they want to run it up on and then they tell me that I must pay up?? If I don’t pay up they come steal my property and deny me liberty by locking me up in jail!? I fail to see how this is anything other than using the threat of (and actual) force to extort money out of the citizenry to fund their pet projects and desires. I’m no more “fiscally responsible” for the government’s tyrannical spending spree than you are responsible for where Gov. Sanford puts his pecker.
I’m sick of people thinking that we OWE the damned government a frickin’ DIME! Tax cheats are heroes in my book unless they do it themselves and punish others for doing the same… then they are tyrants who must be put down (READ: Rangel).
By Todd March 9, 2010 at 9:13 am
Coble and the other insiders have had to know there was more to the Cromartie power base over the years than just his sparkling personality. Guess all the Feds could get to stick was the tax thing. This whole thing stinks so far. I’ve also noted that nearly every blog and news article have the same ending…..”stay tuned.”
By Hymanisanidiot March 16, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Anyone else notice that fatty boom-bah E.W. looks like an obese Jay-Z at age 60?!?