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W illie G.Barker,Jr.
1098 Riverside Drive
Danville,VA 24541

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JAN r5 2216

BY
J:
utl DDLEYGLE;

Decem ber30,2015

EPUTY R ERK

The Honorable Judge Jackson Kiser

United StatesDistrictCourtforthe W estern Division
Danville Division
PO Box 1400
Danville,VA 24543

Reference:Case Num ber:4:15CR00004 Kathryn C.Farley

Dearludge Kiser,

M yfam il
y are theow nersofFirebird M anufacturing,LLC and CherokeeTobacco Co,LLC and Iam w riting
to youto share ourperspective foryourconsideration asyou contemplate the appropriate sentence for
M s.Kathryn C.Farley.Thiscom pany hasbeen inoperationforabout15 yearsand isan im portantpart
ofthe assetsformy family.M s.Farley worked forthe com pany forten years.She started hercareerin
an adm inistrative role and worked herway up to President.During thistim e she wasatrusted mem ber
ofmy managem ent.Shewasso trusted thatforseveralyearsshe operated the companyw here Iwasan
''absentee owner''.lwould visitthe factoryand stop bythe office on an occasionalbasis.However,I
studied the monthlyfinancialstatementsand aIIappeared to beoperating asitshould.W e were making
asmallprofitand had a nice placeform any peopleto work.
Then in August2013 the com pany was''raided''bytheU B and IRS.M s.Farley said thatshe hadn'tdone
anything wrong,shedidn'tknow why they cam e and theydidn'ttellherw hatthey wanted.She told m e
shethoughtsomeone had falselyfiled a com plaintabouther.Ieven hired and paid fora separate
attorneyforM s.Farley'sdefense.In November2013 theU B told me thatSHEwasthe problem .Itwas
atthatpointthatlsenta new m anagementteam in to runthe com pany'sday to dayoperation and to
sortoutthe situation.In January 2014 the m anagementteam discovered num erousproblem s.M s.
Farley had entered into unauthorized contracts,notpaid state excise taxes,notpaid payrolltaxes,not
filed reports,notpaid regulatoryfeesand notpaid federalexcise taxes.Terrible m anagem entblunders,
orso Ithought.Soon i
twasdiscovered thatM s.Farley intentionally underpaid taxesinorderto hide

paymentsthatshemadeto herself.Sheembezzledover$1millionforherown personalbenefitand

jeopardized myfamily'scompany.Thetaxesandfeeswereunderpaidaspartofherschemeto hidethe
paym entsto herself,m any ofwhich were charged into taxaccounts.ltrusted M s.Farley and she abused
thattrust.
The variousregulatory agenciesm ade claim sagainstthe companythatwere im possibleto meet.Given
the al
ternative to shutdown ortryto find a wayto continue and paythese obligations,we chose to try
to stay alive.During the yearand a halfafterterm inating M s.Farley we filed delinquentreports,paid
Page 1 of2

Case 4:15-cr-00004-JLK Document 56 Filed 01/05/16 Page 1 of 2 Pageid#: 179

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whatwe could and negotiated with each agency.lbelievethateach agency determ ined thatitw asin
theirbestinterestto have a Iongterm paym entagreem entratherthan shutusdown.Theyvalue the 35

jobsinthiseconomicallydepressedregion.Itwilltake15yearsto completelypayoffthedebtsthatMs.
Farleycreated.There isverylittleotherdebtsonthecompanyotherthanthisburdentotaling$18.5
m illion.

From m y perspecti
ve,Ihopeyou w illtake into consideration thatourcom pany now hasa high riskof
failure underthe debtIoad.W e are,in essence,inan indebted servitude mode forthe nextfifteen
years.Virtually allnetcash flow goesto tbese governm entagencies.lwould hope thatshe issentenced

to noIesstimethenwhatwemustserve.Ibelievethepeoplewhosejobsareinjeopardyandmyfamily
deserve this.
Thankyou foryourconsideration.Please feelfree to contactme should you have anyquestionsorwish
to discussthisIetter.

Yours ruly,
4.

*'

ilIe G.Barker,Jr.

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