A former IRS attorney today admitted possessing a federal agency identification card without authorization and using it during multiple traffic stops, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Officials said Deon Owensby, 42, of Trenton, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn Wettre in Newark federal court to information charging him with knowingly possessing an official identification card of a federal agency without authorization.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Owensby obtained an official IRS identification card known as an IRS Pocket Commission during his employment as an attorney with the IRS. The IRS Pocket Commission, which IRS employees use to identify themselves to the public when performing official duties, was to be returned to the IRS upon the end of his employment in April 2015.
Authorities however said that from August 2015 to April 2017, Owensby continued to possess the IRS Pocket Commission and displayed it during multiple law enforcement stops of his vehicle in Essex and Middlesex Counties.
The count of possessing an official identification card of a federal agency without authorization is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of six months in prison and a $5,000 fine. Owensby’s sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 28, 2018.
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