The new finance director for the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority pleaded guilty to conspiracy to file false tax returns and wire fraud with an IRS agent in November 2015 and agreed to give up his status as a Certified Public Account as part of the agreement, according to court records.

Gary Gene Collins, 37, who was hired on September 4 of this year, was sentenced to nine months home detention and three years of probation by U.S. District Court Judge David Proctor. He was also ordered to pay $12,908 jointly with his co-defendant, ex-IRS agent Donald Centreal Smith, who was also a fraternity brother, according to the sentencing memorandum.

Reached by AL.com, Interim Executive Director Christopher Ruffin said: “I cannot comment on this matter at this time.”

BJCTA Board of Directors chair Ted Smith referred AL.com to the BJCTA for comment.

Collins had not responded to an email requesting comment on the disclosure, or his CPA status, at the time this article was published.

According to sources, board members became aware of Collins’ plea agreement this week and brought it to Ruffin’s attention on Wednesday.

The BJCTA would not confirm whether a background check had been conducted on Collins during the hiring process and, if so, whether it revealed the agreement.

Nor would it confirm whether Collins said he was a CPA during interviews or on his employment application, a copy of which has been requested by AL.com under the Freedom of Information Act.

False statements could be grounds for termination.

Collins was introduced as the new finance director at the October 8 board meeting. He replaced Karen Jacobs, who resigned in June.

Since then, the BJCTA’s financial procedures appear to have fallen into disarray.

Last month, it was revealed that the BJCTA had invoiced Hoover and Vestavia Hills for amounts higher than what they had previously been told would be required to service their cities—amounts they had locked into their approved budgets. Hoover was billed for $89,000 rather than $81,000; Vestavia Hills was billed $92,000 when the city had only allocated $69,000 in its FY19 budget.

Yesterday, it was reported that the agency’s 300+ employees lost medical and prescription benefits on October 1 because the agency missed two premium payments, while continuing to deduct premiums from employee paychecks.

Ruffin said a check for $888,000—representing two months’ premiums—was sent to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama on Tuesday morning and the company immediately reinstated coverage.

Collins sentence was a 50 percent reduction in the sentencing guidelines Collins pertaining to the charges; the reduction was agreed to by Assistant U.S. Attorney Donna Dobbins because of Collins’ cooperation in the case against Smith.

In June 2012, Smith and Collins opened two bank accounts at Regions Bank, according to the original 30-count indictment and plea agreement, including a checking account in the name of Red Alliance, doing business as True Tax Enterprise, according to the documents.

Smith’s plea revealed he and Collins electronically filed 19 fraudulent IRS personal income tax returns between June 2012 and October 2012. The personal information for those returns came from investigations he conducted while employed as an IRS Special Agent, according to the indictment.

Smith was sentenced to prison for five years and a month after pleading guilty to identity theft, false tax return, and wire fraud.

According to Collins’ sentencing memorandum, he was born in Riverside, Alabama, the youngest of three children born to Temmie and Lucina Collins.

His mother died of cancer before Gary was two years old. Subsequently, according to the memorandum, his father battled “severe drug addiction” and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The memorandum also said Collins was homeless at 16 years but worked two jobs to pay for a rental home and support a son born while Gary was a high-school senior. He graduated with honors and attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he obtained a degree in accounting. He later obtained a Masters in Business Administration from Troy University.

While at UAB Collins married his son’s mother and the couple had twin boys, one of whom was diagnosed with autism before he was two years old.

In 2013, Collins was pardoned for a 2003 manslaughter charge to which he pleaded guilty. It involved the shooting death of Collins' wife’s uncle at their home in Leeds. Collins served a suspended sentence with four years probation.

He received his CPA license in March 2015.