On Feb. 1, Jack Vitayanon, adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School and attorney in the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility, was arrested and charged for conspiracy with others to distribute at least 500 grams of methamphetamine.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents seized a shipment of 460 grams of methamphetamine from Vitayanon to a contact on Long Island, NY. The complaint against Vitayanon, filed on Jan. 30 by HSI special agent John Lattuca, shows that the intended recipient of the shipment agreed to cooperate with HSI in order to further its investigation of Vitayanon and his supplier.
“On or about December 15, 2016, the CS [intended recipient], acting at the direction of law enforcement, recorded a video chat conducted over the internet with the defendant,” the complaint reads.
Mimi Koumanelis, executive communications director of the Law Center, wrote in an email to the Voice that Vitayanon was no longer connected to the law school at the time of his arrest.
“He is not employed by Georgetown. He was on contract to teach a course in the fall of 2016, but is no longer affiliated with the University,” Koumanelis wrote.
According to a press release from U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, this chat also showed Vitayanon smoking what agents believe to be methamphetamine.
“During the recorded conversation Vitayanon was observed in his residence smoking what appeared to be methamphetamine from a glass pipe,” the release states.
After the complaint was filed an arrest warrant was issued. Upon his arrest, Vitayanon’s apartment was searched, and investigators found drugs and drug paraphernalia.
“A search of the defendant’s Washington D.C. apartment executed pursuant to a court-authorized search warrant led to the seizure of additional quantities of suspected methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, packaging materials and drug ledgers,” the release states.
In the official statement from U.S. Attorney’s office, United States Attorney Robert Capers compared Vitayanon to Walter White, the fictional drug dealing chemistry teacher from AMC’s Breaking Bad.
“As alleged, 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,” Capers said.
An IRS spokesperson did not comment specifically on Vitayanon, but made a general statement regarding employee behavior.
“We cannot comment on specific personnel matters. The IRS holds its employees to high standards and does not tolerate inappropriate behavior,” the spokesperson told CNBC. “The IRS strongly emphasizes that it will take any and all actions against inappropriate employee conduct, up to and including dismissal.”
Vitayanon appeared in court in D.C. on Feb. 2 and agreed to be transported to Brooklyn, NY, where the complaint was filed and where the trial will be held. No New York Court dates have been set at this time.
