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ISCR Case 23-02036 — CASE

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ISCR Case 23-02036

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

Case Profile
Decision Date4/10/2025
Statusdenied
LevelHEARING
TypeSTANDARD ISCR
Related decisionsSee the appeal decision (Case ISCR Case No. 23-02036) →See the hearing decision (Case 23-02036) →
Participants
Applicant Representation: Pro Se
Judge: Roger C. Wesley
Government Counsel: John C. Lynch
Case Summary
The applicant in this case was a 56-year-old employee of a defense contractor seeking a security clearance. The adjudicative guideline at issue was financial considerations, with the Statement of Reasons (SOR) alleging that the applicant failed to file federal income tax returns for multiple years and owed significant delinquent taxes exceeding $74,000 to the federal government and over $22,000 to the state. The applicant admitted to the allegations but claimed he had filed the necessary tax returns and was working on a payment plan to resolve his tax debts.
The administrative judge found that while the applicant had made some payments towards his tax obligations, he did not provide sufficient evidence of a structured payment plan or a timeline for settling the remaining debts. The applicant attributed his financial difficulties to personal issues, including anxiety and a prior disciplinary incident at work. Despite his claims of being a dependable individual with a long history of holding security clearances, the judge concluded that the applicant had not mitigated the financial concerns sufficiently.
Ultimately, the administrative judge ruled to deny the applicant's eligibility for access to classified information, stating that the applicant's financial issues raised significant security concerns that were not adequately addressed. The decision emphasized the importance of demonstrating financial responsibility and the potential risks associated with unresolved tax debts in the context of national security.
Guidelines Evaluated
- Guideline FFinancial Considerations · For Applicant
- Guideline FFinancial Considerations · Against Applicant
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Case Headnote

ISCR Case No. 23-02036

deniedApr 10, 2025· Hon. Roger C. Wesley· hearing

Summary

Roger C. Wesley, a 56-year-old defense contractor, was denied a security clearance under Guideline F (Financial Considerations). The denial stemmed from his failure to file federal income tax returns for tax years 2014, 2017-2018, and 2020-2022. This resulted in significant tax debts, including over $74,000 owed to the Federal Government and more than $22,000 owed to his state taxing agency for the years in question.

The Statement of Reasons specifically cited these unfiled returns and outstanding debts as disqualifying conditions. While mitigating condition 20(d) was applied, indicating some efforts to address the issues, the judge ultimately found these efforts insufficient.

The denial was based on a lack of timely resolution or adherence to payment plans for his tax obligations. Despite claims of recent payments, the evidence did not sufficiently demonstrate that Mr. Wesley had resolved his tax issues, leading to concerns about his reliability and trustworthiness.

Why the Applicant Was Denied

Failed to file federal and state income tax returns for multiple years.
Accrued significant tax debts exceeding $74,000 to the Federal Government and $22,000 to his state.
Insufficient evidence of timely resolution or adherence to payment plans for tax debts.

Conditions Referenced

Disqualifying

19(a)raisedInability to Satisfy Debts
19(c)raisedA History of Not Meeting Financial Obligations
19(f)raisedFailure to File or Fraudulently Filing Annual Federal, State, or Local Income Tax Returns or Failure to Pay Annual Federal, State, or Local Income Tax as Required

Mitigating

20(d)appliedThe Individual Initiated and Is Adhering to a Good-faith Effort to Repay Overdue Creditors or Otherwise Resolve DebtsLimited mitigation credit was extended due to some recent payments made.

Key Rule Quoted

“Eligibility for access to classified information may only be granted "upon a finding that it is clearly consistent with the national interest to do so."”
— Exec. Or. 10865, Safeguarding Classified Information within Industry § 2 (Feb. 20, 1960), as amended.

Procedural Posture

SOR issuedFeb 29, 2024
Answer filedJul 8, 2024Requested resolution on the written record without a hearing.
Hearing held—Case assigned to judge on January 2, 2025.
Decision dateApr 10, 2025

Cite For

Failure to File Tax Returns as a Disqualifying Condition Under Guideline F
Insufficient Evidence of Timely Resolution of Tax Debts
Limited Mitigation Credit for Good-faith Efforts to Resolve Financial Issues

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 that the applicant failed to file his federal and state income tax returns for multiple years and is indebted to the federal government for over $74,000 in delinquent taxes, as well as to the state for over $22,000. Despite some payments made towards these debts, the judge concluded that the financial considerations raised security concerns that were not mitigated, resulting in a denial of the applicant's security clearance.

¶	Allegation	Finding	Type	Response	Disqualifying (¶19)	Mitigating applied (¶20)	Mitigation
1.a	failed to file his federal income tax returns for tax years 2014, 2017-2018, and 2020-2022, as required	Against Applicant	Tax Filing Failure	Admitted	—	—	Claimed Acknowledgment and Remorse
1.b	is indebted to the Federal Government for delinquent taxes in excess of $74,000 $74,000	Against Applicant	Tax Unpaid	Admitted	—	—	Claimed Financial Counseling
1.c	is indebted to his state taxing agency for delinquent taxes in excess of $22,000 for the tax years in issue $22,000	Against Applicant	Tax Unpaid	Admitted	—	—	Claimed Financial Counseling

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

Full decision

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