Former DEA Agent, KCPD Officer Pleads Guilty to False Tax Return Related to Payday Loan Scheme

 News Release:

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A former agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration who is also a former Kansas City, Mo., Police Department officer has pleaded guilty in federal court to filing a false federal income tax return as part of a payday loan scheme.

Patrick Scot Witcher, 57, of Wichita Falls, Texas, waived his right to an indictment and pleaded guilty on Monday, May 22, before U.S. Magistrate District Judge Lajuana Counts to a federal information that charges him with one count of filing a false federal income tax return.

Witcher assisted at least five Kansas City-area individuals with the establishment, operation, and management of various payday lending enterprises. During his guilty plea, Witcher admitted that he filed false federal tax returns that included more than $1 million in unreported income between 2016-2018 from a payday lending enterprise. The operations of that payday lending enterprise purportedly occurred outside of the United States, and then on Native American reservations, but, in reality, the vast majority of the operational, financial, and administrative functions of the payday lending enterprise were based in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Under federal law, Witcher is subject to a sentence of up to three years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathleen D. Mahoney, Patrick D. Daly, and Matthew N. Sparks, and Trial Attorney Chad M. Davis of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section. The investigation is being conducted jointly by IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-Office of Inspector General, and the FBI.

Updated May 23, 2023