IRS contractor charged with crime after allegedly urinating in elevator

Criminal charges were filed this week against Michael Hicks, a contractor for the Internal Revenue Service in Detroit, after a surveillance camera showed that Hicks urinated several times in a freight elevator in the IRS building on Michigan Avenue. An affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court indicated that Hicks had been urinating in the IRS elevator.

Hicks, 35, has been charged with damaging federal property and faces a 10-year prison sentence if convicted.

Agents began investigating the issue two years ago after someone complained to the Inspector General for Tax Administration office of a urine smell in the elevator. A camera was installed, and a person was seen urinating in the elevator on several occasions. Hicks was identified and brought up on charges.

Hicks confessed the crime to treasury agent Delmaria Scott in January, stating that he did it, "because he could get away with it." He admitted to urinating in the elevator for several months.

The government paid $4,600 to have the elevator cleaned.