Charles Littlejohn, Unauthorized Disclosure of Tax Returns, District of Columbia 2023

Former IRS Contractor Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Disclosing Tax Returns

A former IRS contractor has been sentenced to five years in prison for disclosing thousands of tax returns without authorization.

Charles Littlejohn, 38, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty in October 2023 to unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and return information.

According to court documents, Littlejohn accessed tax returns associated with a high-ranking government official (Public Official A) on an IRS database after using broad search parameters designed to conceal the true purpose of his queries.

Littlejohn then uploaded the tax returns to a private website in order to avoid IRS protocols established to detect and prevent large downloads or uploads from IRS devices or systems. He saved the tax returns to multiple personal storage devices, including an iPod, before contacting News Organization 1.

Between August 2019 and October 2019, Littlejohn provided News Organization 1 with the tax return information associated with Public Official A. He subsequently stole additional tax return information related to Public Official A and provided it to News Organization 1. Beginning in September 2020, News Organization 1 published a series of articles about Public Official A’s tax returns using the tax return information obtained from Littlejohn.

The case was investigated by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) and prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jonathan E. Jacobson and Deputy Chief Jennifer Clarke of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, with substantial assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Eleanor Hurney for the Northern District of West Virginia.

“Charles Littlejohn abused his position as a consultant at the Internal Revenue Service by disclosing thousands of Americans’ federal tax returns and other private financial information to news organizations,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

Littlejohn separately stole tax return information for thousands of the nation’s wealthiest individuals in July and August 2020 and disclosed this information to News Organization 2, which published nearly 50 articles using the stolen data. He then obstructed the forthcoming investigation into his conduct by deleting and destroying evidence of his disclosures.

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