Associate of Tax Defier Irwin Schiff Pleads Guilty to Tax Crime

WASHINGTON, June 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Lawrence Cohen, a resident of
Las Vegas and a former employee of the now defunct Freedom Books, pleaded
guilty today to a tax charge before U.S. District Judge Kent J. Dawson in Las
Vegas, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

Cohen pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation
of a false 2000 Form 1040 for a client of Freedom Books. Cohen has agreed to
pay restitution for the taxes owed. The plea agreement lists an agreed tax
loss of $92,530, most of which is based on the taxes not paid by several
Freedom Book clients for whom Cohen prepared false income tax returns.

According to the plea agreement and court documents, from approximately late
2000 or early 2001 until at least 2003, Cohen worked with Irwin Schiff and
Cynthia Neun at Freedom Books in Las Vegas. As part of his employment at
Freedom Books, Lawrence Cohen promoted the filing of "zero returns" with the
IRS.

"Those who intentionally file false and frivolous income tax returns or fail
to file tax returns or fail to pay all taxes legally due risk criminal
prosecution," said Ronald A. Cimino, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General
of the Justice Department's Tax Division. "The Tax Division's National Tax
Defier Initiative is focused on those who intentionally refuse to comply with
our laws. The punishment for such willful criminal defiance of our tax laws
includes imprisonment and substantial fines."

Paul Camacho, Special-Agent-in-Charge of the Las Vegas Field Office of the
Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service, emphasized
the importance of this prosecution to deter others from adopting and using
these frivolous arguments. "Many taxpayers from Nevada, as well as customers
from all over the United States, were duped by the fraudulent advice of
Schiff, Neun and Cohen, and then were later forced to pay substantial
penalties and interest."

Cohen faces a maximum prison sentence of three years and a $250,000 fine. His
sentencing hearing was set for Sept. 16, 2009. As part of the plea agreement,
the government will dismiss the other charge against Cohen, tax evasion for
his 2000 individual income tax return, at sentencing.

In September 2005, Cohen, along with Irwin Schiff and Cynthia Neun, was tried
on conspiracy and tax fraud charges. Schiff and Neun were convicted on the
conspiracy charges and other tax fraud counts and sentenced to prison. Cohen
was acquitted of conspiracy and other tax counts, but was convicted of aiding
and assisting in the preparation of one false 2000 Form 1040 (the same count
to which he is pleading guilty).

In December 2007, Cohen's conviction was reversed by the Court of Appeals for
the Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit vacated Cohen's conviction because the
district court failed to allow the defendant's expert psychiatrist to testify
about Cohen's alleged narcissistic personality disorder. The Ninth Circuit
said the testimony, if allowed, would have assisted the jury in making a
decision about whether Cohen had acted willfully when preparing the false
income tax return.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Cimino commended the IRS-Criminal
Investigation special agents who investigated the case, as well as Tax
Division trial attorneys Lori A. Hendrickson and Christopher S. Strauss who
prosecuted the case.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice, +1-202-514-2007, +1-202-514-1888 (TDD)