Summary: An Internal Revenue Service attorney was caught in a transaction where he was selling methamphetamine in what prosecutors believe is part of a larger drug ring.
An Internal Revenue Service attorney from the professional standards office in Washington was charged with conspiring to sell methamphetamine. U.S prosecutors allege that Jack Vitayanon, 41, was part of a meth ring that extended from Arizona to Long Island between September 2014 and January.
The criminal complaint, unsealed in Brooklyn federal court, alleges that during one transaction, Vitayanon directed a buyer to deposit $1,650 cash into his bank account in order to cover the cost of one ounce of meth. The fee covered the shipping cost via FedEx and “my Ubers.”
U.S. attorney for the eastern district of New York, Robert L. Capers, said, “A federal attorney working for the IRS’s Office of Professional Responsibility – broke bad and supplemented his income by selling distribution quantities of methamphetamine.”
Homeland Security Investigation special agent John Lattuca said in a court affidavit that a recent negotiation and sale with Vitayanon was recorded with internet-based video chats. The video chat features Vitayanon in his apartment and another person in Oceanside, N.Y. Prosecutors claim that Vitayanon was smoking meth from a glass pipe during the chat.
A resulting search warrant of his apartment turned up additional amounts of the suspected drug, paraphernalia, packaging materials, and drug ledgers. Vitayanon has been with the IRS since 2012. His current residence is in the U Street corridor.
Do you think Vitayanon will cop to a plea deal in exchange for other members of the ring? Tell us in the comments below.
To learn more about lawyers caught in drug scandals, read these articles:
- Attorneys & Crystal Meth
- Defense Attorney Arrested For Taking Guns, Drugs As Payment
- Georgia Criminal Defense Lawyer Switches Places and Now Needs a Defender
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