Former D.C. mayor continues tax fight

WASHINGTON, April 9 (UPI) -- Former Washington D.C. Mayor Marion Barry is fighting to stay out of prison over failure to file income taxes.

Prosecutors hope to revoke Barry's probation for failure to file his 2005 taxes. But lawyers for Barry, now a D.C. Council member, Friday urged a federal judge to uphold a ruling made last month in his favor that would keep him out of prison, the Washington Times reported.

In briefs filed by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia, prosecutors argued that Barry had failed to file his taxes even after pleading guilty to not filing them.

"Eleven months have passed since the defendant received a lenient sentence of probation, and he inexplicably has failed to do the first thing he was required to do as a condition of his probation, obey the tax laws by filing his tax returns as required," the brief said. "He in no way deserves further leniency."

Barry, 71, believes he is being unfairly targeted. He served six months in prison after his 1990 arrest on cocaine charges and was reelected and served a second term as mayor in 1995.