James Capel, a former top aide to disgraced Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel, has admitted he is a tax cheat, just like his boss.
Capel earned $160,000 a year running Rangel’s New York office, admitted one charge of failing to file a tax return and two of tax fraud, the
New York Post reports.
Now he has until July 12 to find more than $43,000 in fines, back taxes, and penalties if he wants to stay out of jail.
Law enforcement officials say Capel had not filed returns on his congressional salary since 2003, saving himself some $25,000 in taxes. He stopped working for Rangel in February.
Rangel, who has represented the Harlem area of Manhattan for more than 40 years, was censured by the House in December for a series of ethics violations including failing to pay taxes on his vacation home in the Dominican Republic.