N.Y. gov.'s aide pays $300K in back taxes

ALBANY, N.Y., Oct. 23 (UPI) -- The top aide to New York Gov. David Paterson has anted up more than $300,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest he owed, documents show.

Charles J. O'Byrne, the governor's chief of staff, had failed to file tax returns from 2001 to 2005, the Albany Times Union reported Thursday.

O'Byrne paid $211,860 to the federal government in May and paid off his $80,920 debt to the state Tuesday, three days after issuing a statement that the tax bill had been paid, the newspaper said.

Family, friends and financial institutions loaned O'Byrne the money to pay his taxes, his attorneys said.

O'Byrne didn't file his tax returns because he suffered from three bouts of clinical depression during the period, one of his attorneys said.