BALTIMORE _ Former Baltimore Police Commissioner Darryl De Sousa admitted in federal court Tuesday to willfully neglecting to pay his income taxes and falsely claiming deductions in an amount of nearly $68,000.
In a brief court appearance, De Sousa pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to file federal tax returns. He faces as much as three years in prison and a $300,000 fine.
A career police officer, De Sousa, 54, was named the city's top cop last February. His tenure ended abruptly after federal prosecutors charged him with failing to file tax returns. De Sousa resigned in May.
His guilty plea Tuesday brought to light new details of his crimes. He admitted to falsely claiming nine tax allowances for both federal and state tax purposes. He also admitted to claiming deductions he was not entitled to, including for unreimbursed employee expenses that he did not actually incur, mortgage interest and local property taxes when he did not have a mortgage or own any property, and business losses when he didn't operate a business.
In his tax filings, he had also claimed to give thousands of dollars to charity _ but it wasn't true, he admitted.
"This artificially reduced the amount of taxes that you owed," U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake told him.
De Sousa claimed to spend nearly $16,000 for his job in 2012. He claimed expenses for his car, parking fees, tolls and travel expenses. The deductions cut his tax bill 37 percent. With his guilty plea, De Sousa admitted he didn't in fact incur these expenses for his work as a police officer.
The three charges account for De Sousa's failure to file income taxes for 2013, 2014 and 2015.
"You do agree you're guilty of these three offenses?" Blake asked him.
"Yes, your honor," he said.
De Sousa said little else. He is scheduled for sentencing in March. His attorney, Gerard Martin, declined to comment.
The former police commissioner had paid back about $7,000, federal authorities say. He still owes more than $60,000.
The scandal left city leaders answering questions about how well they vetted De Sousa before promoting him to become Baltimore's 40th police commissioner. He had served 30 years with the department and earned a salary of $210,000 when he stepped down. He served about four months as commissioner.
De Sousa was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Leo Wise and Derek Hines, the two men working to uncover the reach of the corrupt police squad known as the Gun Trace Task Force. Federal authorities have not said why they came to discover De Sousa's tax crimes.
His case brought further instability to the ranks of the Baltimore police. The department has had four commissioners since 2015. Meanwhile, the city continues to grapple with a spike in street violence after the death of Freddie Gray three years ago.
Last month, Mayor Catherine Pugh named Fort Worth Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald as her choice to replace De Sousa. Pugh has said she's considering paying him a salary of $260,000.
The city council is scheduled to vote on his nomination next month.
