NEW YORK – A Kingston man who is the former treasurer of the Law Enforcement Employees Benevolent Association and a police officer with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection pled guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to charges of conspiring to evade more than $250,000 in federal taxes, including payroll taxes owed by the union and its employees, and his own personal income taxes.
Steven Whittick, 51, pled guilty to one count of conspiring to evade personal and payroll taxes for the years 2015 through 2018 and the first three-quarters of 2019; and one count of lying to federal investigators.
When sentenced in November, he faces up to five years in prison on each of those charges.
“As a police officer, Whittick swore to uphold the law, not obstruct it,” said U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss. “As a union official, he betrayed the rank-and-file membership by paying himself off the books. As a taxpayer, Whittick evaded his legal obligation to pay what was owed.”
