I am the most active marijuana law advocate in the Inland Empire. I have run a medical marijuana patient support group and law reform organization for 18 years in the IE and I also formed the Brownie Mary Democrats of California, one of only seven statewide Democratic organizations to receive a charter from the California Democratic Party.
I helped form a medical marijuana collective in 2009. The collective was sued by the city of Riverside for violating its zoning laws. The case, City of Riverside vs. Inland Empire Health and Wellness Center, was the one that went all the way to the California Supreme Court resulting in the disastrous ruling that cities could ban collectives under their zoning laws.
With the loss of the lawsuit, the collective closed in 2013. Almost one year to the day later after the collective closed, I was contacted by IRS agent Andrew Hong. He claimed that I was responsible for all the monies transacted by the collective, that I had sequestered millions of dollars in foreign bank accounts and eventually filed a notice of insufficiency that I had failed to report this income and that I owed the IRS in excess of $350,000.
I did not have the money to hire competent council. I was going to have to defend myself in tax court for which I had absolutely no knowledge of the complex and convoluted tax laws and procedures. I would have lost for sure in tax court and would have had my home, my very limited savings and my social security seized which would have left me, at the age of 68, destitute and homeless.
Fortunately, I was put into contact with Lavar Taylor who after speaking with me stated that the IRS was wrong on every count in what they were accusing me of and that the actions by the IRS were unreasonable and egregious. He was sympathetic to the cause that I had dedicated my life to for the last two decades, understood my limited financial resources and recognized the devastating consequences that would befall me if the IRS was to succeed in their actions against me.
Lavar took my case PRO BONO for which I am eternally grateful. I had now been under investigation for two years. I had been treated with disrespect, mocked and humiliated by almost everyone I came in contact with at the IRS. The attorney I had hired had lost in every action he had undertaken with the IRS when Lavar stepped in and took over in July 2016.
Lavar patiently and understandably explained the intricacies and processes that I would be going through as the IRS actions against me proceeded inexorably towards a court hearing. He helped me prepare all the documentation the IRS required from bank accounts, credit cards and other financial information the IRS demanded.
In a series of letters and document submissions, Lavar convinced the IRS attorney that they had no case against me and the IRS attorney moved for dismissal of all charges. In April 2018, all charges for all actions against me by the IRS including the new actions undertaken by Agent Hong in retaliation for my civil rights violation filing were dismissed. This included the IRS granting Lavar, $10,000 in attorney fees which is very rare for the IRS to do except for the most unreasonable actions undertaken by the IRS.
Lavar Taylor provided impeccable advice, guidance and defense. He was patient, understanding and considerate at all times. That he is eminently qualified goes without saying - that he is both skillful and understanding makes his services all the more valuable. I am deeply indebted to him for his advice and counsel and rate his services
Lanny Swerdlow, RN
lannyswerdlowrn@yahoo.com read more
