Paterson Aide Owed 200K in Taxes Cause He Was Bummed

Senior in-house adviser to Governor Paterson Charles O'Byrne owed over $200,000 in unpaid taxes until settling recently with the government. His reasoning for not paying state or federal taxes from 2001 to 2005 while being employed by the state: depression.

"Keeping up with the mail, frankly, and keeping up with the personal affairs of my life was the primary casualty of the depression I've suffered and have been treated for," O'Byrne tells the Post. O'Byrne is an openly homosexual former Jesuit priest who was on the altar for both the wedding and funeral of JFK Jr. After leaving big money as a corporate lawyer for priests, he took his finances into his own hands while working on a memoir.

"I'm clinically aware of the fact that it is a consequence of an illness over which I had no control. As anyone who's been through a clinical depression understands, parts of life fall apart," said O'Byrne when the Post found out about an outstanding $11,500 tax warrant listed by the Department of State. Now, as an aide to Paterson, he makes $178,500 a year. Paterson told the paper that he is more than satisfied that with his top aide's explanation and settling of the matter.

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By Billy Parker in News on October 18, 2008 8:30 AM

Comments [rss]

Aspie_Bob

It is very likely that the depression may have caused him to ignore notices and legal documents. That is not uncommon ... even for very intelligent people.

I have a similar problem with bureaucratic notices and procedures. I was pretty successful and have a pretty high IQ, however, I have a condition called Asperger's Syndrome that is akin to a high functioning form of autism. I'm not using this as an excuse, but as an explanation. I'm good at things I like, but avoid things I'm find frustrating.

Give the guy the benefit of the doubt.

MrCow

BULLSHIT. i'm clinically depressed and i still have to pay my bills.

obsoletest

Hey Gothamist people, please change your headline. Clinical depression is not about being "bummed." Please read: http://cavett.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/smiling-through/.

Spirit of 76

There's never a good defamation of character lawsuit when you need one.

henricus

Would you expect anything less from this rag? It's pathetic because the readers of the post lap up these pseudo-comical, 'straight to the point' headlines which are often nothing but crass and over-the-top. All I have to say beyond that...no class.

theevilone

The NY Post's headline is really unfortunate. If this man is being truthful and was actually clinically depressed, calling him "crazy" is irresponsible and Gothamist calling him "bummed" is rather dismissive of a serious medical condition.