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ISCR Case 22-01849 — CASE

Case record

ISCR Case 22-01849

A decided public DOHA case, shown for research — not advice or a prediction.

Case Profile
Decision Date3/21/2023
Statusdenied
LevelHEARING
TypeADP POSITION
Participants
Applicant Representation: Pro Se
Judge: Candace Le'i Garcia
Government Counsel: Sakeena Farhath
Case Summary
The applicant in this case was a 56-year-old individual seeking a public trust position with the Department of Defense. The Statement of Reasons (SOR) raised trustworthiness concerns under Guideline H (drug involvement) and Guideline F (financial considerations). The core allegations included the applicant's failure to file and pay federal and state income tax returns for multiple years and her ongoing use of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), despite acknowledging that federal employees are prohibited from using marijuana.
The applicant admitted to several financial issues, including delinquent federal student loans and failure to file tax returns for the years 2015 through 2018 and 2021. She attributed her financial difficulties to her spouse's health issues and her own chronic medical condition, which led to periods of unemployment. While she claimed to be working on resolving her financial obligations and transitioning from THC to prescription medication, the administrative judge found insufficient evidence of her efforts to address her tax issues or to demonstrate financial responsibility.
The administrative judge ruled against the applicant, concluding that she failed to mitigate the trustworthiness concerns related to both financial considerations and drug involvement. The judge noted that the applicant's ongoing financial difficulties and her expressed intent to continue using THC raised significant doubts about her reliability and trustworthiness, ultimately denying her eligibility for access to sensitive information.
Guidelines Evaluated
- Guideline FFinancial Considerations · Against Applicant
- Guideline HDrug Involvement & Substance Misuse · Against Applicant
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Case Headnote

ISCR Case No. 22-01849

deniedMar 21, 2023· Hon. Candace Le'i Garcia· hearing

Summary

A 56-year-old woman was denied eligibility for a public trust position due to unresolved concerns under Guideline F (Financial Considerations) and Guideline H (Drug Involvement). The Statement of Reasons detailed that she failed to file and pay federal and state income tax returns for tax years 2015 through 2018 and 2021. Additionally, she had delinquent federal student loans totaling approximately $155,777.

Regarding drug involvement, the applicant admitted to using and purchasing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) with varying frequency from approximately December 2018 until at least July 2022. She also stated her intent to continue using THC in the future.

The judge determined that her financial difficulties, including the unfiled tax returns and significant delinquent student loan debt, combined with her admitted THC use and intent to continue, raised substantial concerns about her reliability and trustworthiness. Consequently, eligibility for the public trust position was denied.

Why the Applicant Was Denied

The applicant failed to file and pay required federal and state income tax returns for multiple years.
The applicant has delinquent federal student loans totaling approximately $155,777.
The applicant admitted to using THC for medical reasons and expressed intent to continue its use.

Conditions Referenced

Disqualifying

AG ¶ 19(a)raisedInability to Satisfy Debts
AG ¶ 19(c)raisedHistory of Not Meeting Financial Obligations
AG ¶ 19(f)raisedFailure to File or Fraudulently Filing Annual Income Tax Returns
AG ¶ 25(a)raisedAny Substance Misuse
AG ¶ 25(c)raisedIllegal Possession of a Controlled Substance
AG ¶ 25(g)raisedExpressed Intent to Continue Drug Involvement

Key Rule Quoted

“The protection of the national security is the paramount consideration.”

Procedural Posture

SOR issuedOct 6, 2022
Answer filedNov 2, 2022
Hearing held—Decided on written record.
Decision dateMar 21, 2023

Cite For

Failure to Mitigate Financial Obligations Under Guideline F
Ongoing Drug Involvement Concerns Under Guideline H
Impact of Unresolved Tax Issues on Trustworthiness Evaluations

Editorial summary generated for research. Not legal advice; not a prediction. Verify against the full decision before relying on any quoted language.

Standardized Decision Profile

SEAD-4 Guideline F · descriptive summary of a decided case

Posture: Decision on RecordDecided: denied

The judge found against the applicant on financial considerations due to her failure to file and pay federal and state income tax returns for multiple years and her delinquent federal student loans totaling approximately $155,777. The applicant's claims of financial hardship were not sufficient to mitigate the concerns raised by her financial issues, leading to a denial of her eligibility for access to sensitive information.

¶	Allegation	Finding	Type	Response	Disqualifying (¶19)	Mitigating applied (¶20)	Mitigation
1.a	Applicant failed to file and pay her federal and state income tax returns for tax years 2015 through 2018 and 2021.	Against Applicant	Tax Filing Failure	Admitted	(a) inability to satisfy debts (c) a history of not meeting financial obligations (f) failure to file / fraudulent filing of tax returns or unpaid tax	—	—
1.b	Applicant has delinquent federal student loans totaling approximately $155,777. $155,777	Against Applicant	Student Loan Debt	Admitted	(a) inability to satisfy debts (c) a history of not meeting financial obligations (f) failure to file / fraudulent filing of tax returns or unpaid tax	—	—

Descriptive standardized rendering of a decided public case (Guideline F). The verbatim source decision is shown in full below.

Standardized Decision Profile

SEAD-4 Guideline H (Drug Involvement) · descriptive summary of a decided case

Posture: Decision on RecordDecided: denied

The judge found that the applicant used and purchased tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) with varying frequency from approximately December 2018 until at least July 2022 and intended to use THC in the future. The judge ruled against the applicant on both allegations under Guideline H, concluding that the applicant failed to mitigate the trustworthiness concerns related to drug involvement.

¶	Allegation	Finding	Substance / event	Use level	Response	Disqualifying (¶25)	Mitigating applied (¶26)	Mitigation
2.a	Applicant used and purchased tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) with varying frequency from approximately December 2018 until at least July 2022.	Against Applicant	Marijuana	Frequent	Admitted	—	—	—
2.b	As of the date of the SOR, she intended to use THC in the future.	Against Applicant	Stated Intent to Use Again	Not Applicable	Unknown	—	—	—

Descriptive standardized rendering of a decided public case (Guideline H). The verbatim source decision is shown in full below.

Full decision

The complete, official text — footnotes and signatures included — is in the original PDF.