A lawyer for the IRS faces federal drug charges after officials say he sold methamphetamine out of his apartment in Washington, D.C.
Jack Vitayanon, 41, was arrested after U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said he conspired with people in Arizona and New York to sell the drug for several years.
“The defendant -- a federal attorney working for the IRS’s Office of Professional Responsibility -- broke bad and supplemented his income by selling distribution quantities of methamphetamine,” U.S. Attorney Robert Capers said in a statement.
The lawyer negotiated deals in text messages and video chats, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York said Wednesday in a statement.
Vitayanon allegedly shipped meth via FedEx to someone on Long Island.
The recipient of the package, acting at the direction of law enforcement, recorded a video chat with Vitayanon on Dec. 15, prosecutors said. During the conversation, Vitayanon smoked what appeared to be meth from a glass pipe.
Officials searched his home and found meth, drug paraphernalia, packaging materials and ledgers that showed sales records.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Vitayanon was charged with conspiracy to distribute meth.
In addition to working for the IRS, he was an adjunct law professor at Georgetown University, according to his LinkedIn profile.
