The prestigious John Rodriguez Intellectual Property Rights Award of Excellence was awarded to California State Board of Equalization (BOE) Member Jerome E. Horton in recognition for his work combatting piracy, counterfeiting, and other underground economic activity during an intellectual property crimes training class in Sacramento, on April 19.
The award is in memory of Detective John Rodriguez, who was a pioneer in building the Los Angeles Police Department’s intellectual property investigations program.
The prestigious John Rodriguez Intellectual Property Rights Award of Excellence was awarded to California State Board of Equalization (BOE) Member Jerome E. Horton in recognition for his work combatting piracy, counterfeiting, and other underground economic activity during an intellectual property crimes training class in Sacramento, on April 19.
The award is in memory of Detective John Rodriguez, who was a pioneer in building the Los Angeles Police Department’s intellectual property investigations program.
It is estimated that the motion picture, pharmaceutical, music, and other industries are losing billions to brand infringement, counterfeiting, and theft of their products.
Brand owners also recognized Horton’s efforts against underground economic activity by recognizing him for his efforts combatting theft of intellectual property. They commended Member Horton’s efforts to establish the TRaCE task force, an inter-agency partnership led by the Department of Justice formed in 2014 to investigate criminal elements of the underground economy engaged in manufacturing, importation, distribution, and the sale of pirated intellectual property, as well as other crimes resulting from the evasion of business and income taxes.
“It is the men and women who fight to protect our precious tax dollars from ‘tax cheats’ who manipulate the system for their personal gain who deserve this recognition,” board member Horton said. “I am humbled to be one of them.”
Re-elected in 2014, Jerome E. Horton is the Third District Member of the California State Board of Equalization (BOE), representing more than 9.5 million residents in Los Angeles County and Ventura County. He is also the BOE’s Property Tax Committee Chairman.
He is the first to serve as a Board Member with more than 21 years of experience at the BOE. Horton previously served as a Member of the California State Assembly from 2000-2006.
The five-member BOE is a publicly elected tax board. The BOE collects $60.5 billion annually in taxes and fees, supporting state and local government services. It hears business tax appeals, acts as the appellate body for franchise and personal income tax appeals, and serves a significant role in the assessment and administration of property taxes.
For more information on other taxes and fees in California, visit the California Tax Service Center.
The Tax Recovery and Criminal Enforcement Task Force (TRaCE) is comprised of public officials from the Department of Justice, Board of Equalization, Franchise Tax Board, Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Employment Development Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Motor Vehicles.
