E.W. Cromartie In Matthew Perry

Fede ra l Courthouse Monday

morning, April 26,

resigned Columbia City

Council Member E. W. Cromartie

II pled guilty to one

count of income tax evas

ion and two counts of

ag gravated structu ring. By

structuring money ac

counts in his own way,

Cromartie was trying to evade federal reporting

r equi r eme nts. C hie f U.S.

District Judge David C.

Norton accepted the plea

and will sentence Cromartie

after he has reviewed a

pre–sentence report which

will be prepared by the U.

S. Probation Office.

Representing Crom

artie was Columbia

a ttorn ey I.S. Lee vy Jo hnson.

T he fede ral go v ern

m ent was represented by

Assistant U. S. Attorney Mark Moore and acting

U.S. Attorney Kevin F.

Mc Donald, who said Croma

rtie could get fined

$2 50,0 00 and i mpris o ned

for five years on the tax

charge and another 10

years and $500,000 for the

two aggravated structuring

counts. As it turns out,

Cromartie and the federal

prose c utors h ave a gre ed

on a prison sentence of

one year and a day. Crom

has to pay $58,075

in t axes owe d. Final s ente

ncing is scheduled for

sometime in the next 90

days or later this summ e r,

a s was said in the federa l

courtroom.

If the sent ence were

for just one year, not on e

year and a day, the time in

prison could not be

reduced for early parole. As

the law works, reportedly, a sentence of one year and a

day can be reduced for

early parole. As part of his

plea agreement, Cromartie

is e xpe ct ed to coope rate

with federal officials in

investigations involving

other people. Who that may be and in what circumstances and under

what probable charges are

matters yet to be disclosed

by the U. S. Attor ney.

Cromartie has agreed

to testify before federal grand juries and trial juries, having already prod ced documentation

and backing his testimony. He has also

agreed to take a lie detect

test.

The local political

mavens’ rumor mill is

grinding out the origin and

the purpose behind a flat

$25,000 collected by Crom

in the form of nine

checks deposited over five

days in 2006, beginning on

July 14 and ending on July

18.

Informed inside

so urces suggest Cromartie

did not collect the money

from a law client. In the end, which is near, the pub l ic re cord wil l ref lec t

the origin and the purpose

behind the $25,000.

Special Agent in

Charg e Jeannine A. Hammett,

IRS Criminal Investigation,

stat ed , “The privilege

of serving the citizens

of the city is accompanied

by a sacred resp onsibilit y

to conduct onese lf honorabl

y, ethically, and within

the bounds of the law.

When servants of the people

are involved with and

perform illegal acts, it

shakes the trust of the people. IRS–Criminal Investigation will diligently investigate public officials who abuse the system.”

The case was investigated by agents of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS–CI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).