As expected, former IRS employee Robert Steven, 55, pleaded guilty in federal court today for his involvement in the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue scandal. Steven remains free until he is sentenced on Oct. 8. The Post has a bit more information about the role Steven and his estranged wife Patricia played in the enormous embezzlement scheme.

A bank account set up by the couple in the name of a clothing design firm took in $9.2 million in embezzled funds from 1990 to 2007, according to prosecutors. Of that, $1.7 million was transferred into a Wachovia account used primarily by Robert Steven, according to court documents. With that money, Steven bought four cars, all Jaguars, as well as a home in Edgewater and numerous vacations to the Bahamas, prosecutors said.

That $9.2 million is a pretty significant amount, though not as much as the $18 million former Bank of America employee Walter Jones helped to embezzle. Not to suggest that there’s any silver lining to be found for the D.C. government in this case, but it is worth pointing out that two of key players in the scheme, people with access and expertise crucial to hiding over $50 million over the course of two decades, were not themselves employees of the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue. Steven and his wife are described as longtime friends of accused mastermind Harriette Walters.