November 14, 2009

Former Baseball All-star sent to Prison

Jerry Koosman, an all-star pitcher and a key member of the legendary Mets baseball team that won the World Series beating the highly-favored Orioles against all odds in 1969 was sent to jail for 6 months for failing to pay his taxes from 2002 to 2004. During that time, he earned a total of $754, 950 including $130,000 from his Major League Baseball pension.

According to the IRS, His tax debt is as high as $80,000. In 2002, he sold $551,881 worth of stocks and made a further $25,000 from autographs and personal appearance fees.

How did he end up making such a drastic mistake? By his own admission, Koosman said he got suckered by the anti-tax fringe movement. This movement basically advocates that not everyone is liable by law to pay taxes. Koosman said that he did some research and found that only those who live in the District of Columbia and federal employees are liable to pay taxes. When confronted by IRS agents in 2006, he presented to them a hefty stack of folders of documents that supposedly prove his claim. Eventually, Koosman pleaded guilty to tax evasion in May.

He admitted to being too trusting of people, an attitude that landed him in trouble with the IRS. Koosman's lawyer, Robert Bernhoft, described his client as an honest, reliable but na�ve farm boy as he appealed to the judge for probation. His efforts did bear some fruit for the judge in this case, US District Court judge Barbara Crabb sentenced the two time All-star lefty to 6 months instead of one year's imprisonment but added a year of supervised release. The judge deemed his crime, "a serious blemish on an otherwise outstanding life". She called on Koosman to work out paying his debt to the IRS. He still owes about $65,000 in taxes, according to prosecutors.

Koosman played 19 seasons of Major League baseball from 1967 to 1985, including his first 12 with the Mets. He ended his career with a 222 wins against 209 losses and a 3.36 Earned Run Average. He was one of a trio of pitchers including fellow Hall of Famers Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan who made the '69 Mets team famous. Koosman even got himself onto the front cover of Life magazine in 1969. He was also famed for giving up Pete Rose's landmark 4,000th career hit in 1984. Koosman retired the following year.

Darrin T. Mish is a veteran, nationally recognized tax attorney who has focused on providing IRS help to taxpayers for over a decade. He regularly travels the country training other attorneys, CPAs and enrolled agents on how to handle their toughest cases with the IRS. He is highly ranked among the top attorneys in the country, with an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell and a perfect 10 on Avvo.com. Martindale-Hubbell has also honored him with a listing in their Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. He is a member of the American Society of IRS Problem Solvers and the Tax Freedom Institute. With clients on every continent but Antarctica, he has what it takes to solve your IRS problems no matter where you live in the world. If you would like more information about his practice and how he can help you, please call his office at (813) 229-7100 or toll free at 1-888-GET-MISH.

Share and Enjoy: