Cross-Dressing IRS Agent Gets Probation in Fraud Case
Judge cites “gender confusion” as factor in sentencing
SCRANTON, Pa. ? A cross-dressing IRS agent who used his daughter?s identification to obtain credit was sentenced Tuesday in federal court to two years? probation, according to the Leader newspaper. A U.S. District judge cited Edward Snarski?s ?gender confusion? as a factor in imposing the sentence.
Snarski was as a special agent in the IRS criminal investigation unit in Scranton when a grand jury indicted him in 2002 on charges stemming from his scheme to pose as Erica Edwards, a fictitious person, using his daughter?s Social Security number to obtain $22,463 in credit from four banks and a mail-order clothing store.
Snarski initially argued he had been unfairly targeted because he was a cross-dresser preparing to undergo a sex change. A judge denied the motion. So Snarski pleaded guilty in January to one count of misuse of a Social Security number. The other charges were dropped in exchange for the plea. The maximum possible sentence for the offense was five years in prison, but sentencing guidelines called for a sentence of no prison time to up to six months in prison.
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