An IRS agent just got sentenced to two and a half years in prison for accepting a bribe of $20,000 from a medical marijuana dispensary.
According to the Associated Press for the Seattle Times, this former IRS agent is Seattle-based, and took the bribe when he audited Have A Heart Compassion Care in Seattle. X-agent Paul G. Hurley accepted money from the owner, Ryan Kunkel. Hurley allegedly told Kunkel he was saving him $1 million by only asking for $20,000 in cash. Kunkel paid the bribe, but then went to the police to turn in the agent.
Hurley was arrested last September, but was just recently charged, although he was convicted in February. Originally, the U.S. Attorney’s Office wanted to sentence Hurley to a seven-year term in prison, as they called him “an affront to the United States, the IRS, and all law abiding tax payers.” Hurley’s attorney countered by looking for a one-year prison term, and the two and a half years in prison was the compromise reached.
While normally the two are at odds, this is one time when the Federal legal system and small cannabis businesses trying to get established agree. With these kinds of illegal activities taking place, justice will not be carried out, and an industry striving to be seen as legal and upstanding will not be able to come into the light and away from the black market. Hopefully, with the sentencing of Hurly now underway, others will be warned away from giving or accepting bribes and devaluing the industry.
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