A former tax examiner who once complained that he worked with "fools" at the Internal Revenue Service was sentenced to three months of probation on Tuesday for angling for a higher-paying job with a bank that he was leading an audit against. Dennis Lerner apologized to the government and told Southern District Judge John Keenan (See Profile) he now knows he "used very poor judgment." Keenan responded, "You certainly did," later calling the defendant's decisions "dopey." The U.S. Attorney's office had asked Keenan to sentence Lerner within federal guidelines calling for four to 10 months behind bars. The judge instead opted to give Lerner probation, along with a $10,000 fine and 150 hours of community service.
Lerner, 60, of Edgewater, N.J., had pleaded guilty to violating criminal conflict of interest laws and other charges in March. Prosecutors alleged that while conducting an audit of Commerzbank AG, he interviewed for a job with the German institution without the knowledge of his IRS bosses. He continued to lead negotiations that resulted in a $210 million settlement related to about $1 billion in unreported income, authorities said.
