Jerry Koosman is going to jail

Former Met Lenny Dysktra had a bad day in federal court yesterday. Former Met Jerry Koosman had a worse one:

Koosman pleaded guilty to tax evasion in May, saying his research led him to conclude that only federal workers and District of Columbia residents had to pay federal taxes.

IRS agents who confronted him in 2006 said he showed them three binders of documents challenging the government’s right to levy taxes.

Koosman’s lawyer Robert Bernhoft, described the former pitcher as an honest, reliable - but naive - farm boy.

That defense about federal workers and DC residents is a favorite among wacko anti-government tax protester types. What always amazes me about it is how they can dig so deeply into the U.S. Code in an effort to parse the language they think gives them the right to avoid taxes, but seem to always ignore the 16th Amendment which is short and really, really clear on the matter.

Sad to see a pitcher I always admired fall into that kind of nonsense.