FRANKLIN, Tennessee–IRS agent Samuel Garza remains in custody as he faces felony charges of sexual battery.
A Williamson County Tennessee grand jury has indicted Garza, who was arrested on September 3 while caught on video during an IRS audit he was conducting of a convenience store owned by a woman in Fairview, Tennessee.
Garza arranged for his audit of the female business owner to be held in a building where only he and the victim were on the premises. According to the testimony of the victim, Garza admitted to “checking her out on Facebook” prior to the audit.
Williamson County District Attorney Kim Helper tells Breitbart News that Garza was indicted when the Williamson County Grand Jury convened late last month, and the first hearing in the felony trial will be held in Williamson County courts on January 28.
Garza has been incarcerated in Williamson County Jail since his arrest. A spokesperson for the county Sheriff’s Department tells Breitbart News Garza remains in custody. Garza has been unable to post the $300,000 bond set by the court.
The 37-year-old Garza, a native of El Paso, Texas, has been employed by the IRS as a revenue agent since at least 2009. Though he has been arrested and indicted on these very serious charges, he apparently remains employed by the IRS, according to documents filed with the court by Garza’s attorney, Kyle Mothershead.
Breitbart News has asked the IRS to confirm or deny Garza’s employment status, but a spokesperson for the agency has not answered that question, instead referring us to the Treasury Department Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), which is said to be conducting an investigation of the Garza incident.
Breitbart News, however, has been unable to independently confirm with TIGTA that is undertaking such an investigation, and a spokesperson for the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department tells Breitbart News it has not been contacted by TIGTA.
“This case is likely to end in a guilty plea followed by a sentencing to time served,” a former Tennessee prosecutor predicts to Breitbart News. “The usual sentence for convictions on sexual battery is 3 years. Sentencing for first time offenders is usually 6 months, followed by supervised probation”
By the time the first hearing in Garza’s criminal trial is held in late January, he will have served almost five months in jail.
If convicted in a plea deal and released in March, it is unclear if Garza would be allowed to keep his job as an IRS revenue agent. Breitbart News has asked the IRS if Garza would keep his job if convicted, but has not received a response.
If Garza is convicted, the victim in the case may be able to bring a strong civil rights violation civil suit against the IRS.
“If the victim brings such a case against the IRS, it will never go to trial,” the former Tennessee prosecutor tells Breitbart News. “The federal government will cut her a big check,” the former prosecutor says.
The indictment of Garza comes at a very bad time for IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. The House of Representatives has initiated impeachment proceedings against him for allegedly lying in Congressional testimony.
Public opinion continues to turn against the IRS, especially in light of the recent Department of Justice decision not to prosecute former IRS executive Lois Lerner, despite overwhelming evidence that she supervised a plan to target conservative organizations for unfavorable treatment by the agency.
Garza’s indictment provides more evidence that, under Koskinen, the IRS has become a rogue agency whose employees regularly engage in the blatant abuse of the rights of taxpayers.
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