A former chief of staff to a member of the Newark Municipal Council was sentenced today to six months in prison and six months home confinement for evading income taxes by claiming scores of phony exemptions and failing to file an individual income tax return, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Richard Allen Whitten, 50, of Newark, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to one count of an Information charging him with tax evasion for his fraudulent W-4 form and subsequent failure to file a federal tax return. Chesler imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
Whitten ran unsuccessfully for a Central Ward council seat in 2010. He subsequently worked for Councilman Darren Sharif.
