Legal division staff directory

General

Mail
Franchise Tax Board
Legal Division
PO Box 1720
Rancho Cordova CA 95741-1720
Fax
(916) 845-3648

Chief Counsel Office

Contact Phone number
Jozel Brunett, Chief Counsel (916) 845-6467
Prenita Devi, Staff Operations Specialist (916) 845-4119

Deputy Chief Counsel

Contact Phone number
Craig Scott, Deputy Chief Counsel of Specialized and General Tax Administration and Procedure (916) 845-6510
Marguerite Mosnier, Attorney V (916) 845-6984
Raymond Rouse, Deputy Chief Counsel of Settlement and Litigation (916) 845-5521
Melody Scullary, Attorney V (916) 845-4978
William Gardner, Deputy Chief Counsel of Multistate and Business Entity Tax (916) 845-3318
Laurie McElhatton, Attorney V (916) 845-6916
Shane Hofeling, Deputy Chief Counsel of Technical Resources Bureau (916) 845-4581
Adam Susz, Attorney V (916) 845-5130

Control Desks

Contact Phone number
Appeals (916) 845-4792
Docketed Protest (916) 845-6850
Litigation (916) 845-6736
Regulations (916) 845-6080
Settlement (916) 845-5034

Business Entity Tax Bureau

The Business Entity Tax Bureau (BETB) is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the provisions of the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law (other than those involving apportionment and administration) pertaining to business and pass-through entities. The BETB handles issues pertaining to abusive tax avoidance transactions (ATAT), including penalties imposed in connection with an ATAT and requests for Chief Counsel penalty relief. The BETB is also responsible for protests, appeals, litigation support, advice memorandums, review of legislation and forms, public presentations, and coordination with other divisions of the Department on issues in the subject areas for which the BETB is responsible.

Business Entity Tax Bureau
Contact Phone number
Roman Johnston, Bureau Director (916) 845-5882
Cassandra Banks (916) 845-7661
Katie Frank (916) 845-4601
Judy Hirano (916) 845-6831
Cheyanna Jaffke (916) 845-3845
Kamalpreet Khaira (916) 845-5192
Paul Kim (916) 845-7932
Bradley Kragel (916) 845-2861
Michael Laisne (916) 845-4324
Matthew Miller (916) 845-7009
Leah Thyberg (916) 845-3617
Todd Watkins (916) 845-2966

General Tax Bureau

The General Tax Bureau (GTB) is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the provisions of the Personal Income Tax Law pertaining to individuals and pass-through entities. The GTB is also responsible for protests, appeals, litigation support, advice memorandums, review of legislation and forms, public presentations, and coordination with other divisions of the Department on issues in the subject areas for which the GTB is responsible.

General Tax Bureau
Contact Phone number
Jenna Lewis, Bureau Director (916) 845-7965
Pam Bertani (916) 845-6451
Mira Coutinho (916) 845-7612
Blake Cunningham (916) 845-1980
Nathan Hall (916) 845-7010
David Hunter (916) 845-5136
Parvis Iranpour (916) 845-3085
Carolyn Kuduk (916) 845-2498
Peter Kwok (916) 845-6652
Brian Miller (916) 845-3075
Jason Riley (916) 845-6534
Sonia Woodruff (916) 845-4466

Litigation Bureau

The Litigation Bureau handles the department's litigation management and strategy, supervising the most complex and contentious litigation cases. The Bureau also provides assistance and direction to the subject matter experts in Legal's other bureaus, and provides general legal advice and support to the entire department and the Attorney General’s office regarding bankruptcy and general collection matters.

Litigation Bureau
Contact Phone number
Vacant, Bureau Director (916) 845-000
Caitlin Barth (916) 845-5002
Jeff Curl (916) 845-0103
Scott DePeel (916) 845-5529
D'Arcy Dewey (916) 845-7457
Wendy Dezzani (916) 845-5692
Dennis Haase (916) 845-6116
Ann Hodges (916) 845-3088
Kat LaMar (916) 845-6553
Carissa Lynch (916) 845-7835
John O'Donnell (916) 845-6959
Renel Sapiandante (916) 845-5508
Michele Thompson (916) 845-0141
Mary Yee (916) 845-7325

Litigation Support

Contact Phone number
Marti Gehrig (916) 845-3396
Joanna Palisoc (916) 845-5894
Cristina Rubalcava (916) 845-1454
Mechelle Sherles (916) 845-5408

Multistate Tax Bureau

The Multistate Tax Bureau is responsible for handling protests, appeals, litigation cases, rulings, regulations, notices and other general legal matters involving the unitary business concept and the apportionment and allocation of the income of multi jurisdictional businesses. The Bureau is also responsible for questions involving nexus and the processing of petitions for voluntary disclosures, variances from the standard UDITPA provisions under Section 25137, and petitions under Section 23101.5.

Multistate Tax Bureau
Contact Phone number
Delinda Tamagni, Bureau Director (916) 845-5089
Brian Beck (916) 845-7008
Hanna Cho (916) 845-7298
Anthony Epolite (916) 845-4943
Ken Havens (916) 845-2811
Ryan Ivanusich (916) 845-3050
Irina Iskander Krasavtseva (415) 904-5824
Brandon Knoll (916) 845-2567
Thomas Lo Grossman (916) 845-3629
Ricky Martorana, Jr. (916) 845-3312
Gi Nam (916) 845-7983
Grace Power (916) 845-7332
Anne Rothschild (916) 845-7041
Kathy Shin (916) 845-2593
Laura Wingert (916) 845-2578
Rafael Zaychenko (916) 845-2639

Settlement Bureau

The Settlement Bureau is responsible for negotiating settlements of civil tax matters in dispute consistent with a reasonable evaluation of the costs and risks associated with the litigation of these matters. A civil tax matter in dispute is the protest of a Notice of Proposed Assessment, the appeal of a Notice of Action to the Office of Tax Appeals or a pending claim for refund. Detailed information about requesting settlement and the settlement process can be found in FTB Notice 2007-2.

Settlement Bureau
Contact Phone number
Ciro Immordino, Bureau Director (916) 845-4066
Susanne Coakley (916) 845-5001
Jay Hite (626) 974-0725
Ellen Little (916) 845-7403
Lisa Ohanesian (916) 845-5309
Elizabeth Rodoni (916) 845-2626
Jeanne Sibert (916) 845-7750
Settlement Unit
Contact Phone number
Sandy Gemmingen, Manager (916) 845-3361
Yelena Kuznetsov (916) 845-7669
Donna Lapp (916) 845-5329
Eva Ochotorena (916) 845-3529
Claudia Nuno (916) 845-5824

Specialized and Individual Tax Bureau

The Specialized and Individual Tax (SIT) Bureau is responsible for the administration and enforcement of assigned provisions found in Part 10 and Part 10.2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, including residency, sourcing, interest abatement and suspension, frivolous activity non-filers and erroneous refunds.  The Bureau focuses on protests, appeals, litigation support, rulings and regulations relating to these subjects.  In addition, the SIT Bureau handles form review and responds to department and taxpayer questions that touch on these topics and others for which the SIT Bureau is responsible.

Specialized and Individual Tax Bureau
Contact Phone number
Christopher Casselman, Bureau Director (916) 845-3299
Eric Brown (916) 845-5265
Christopher Cook (916) 845-2045
Ronald Hofsdal (916) 845-7784
Desiree Macedo (916) 845-7193
Annika McClure (916) 845-6357
David Muradyan (916) 845-4540
Natasha Page (916) 845-6729
Josh Ricafort (916) 845-7923
Ellen Swain (916) 845-2971
Lawrence Xiao (916) 845-6973
Eric Yadao (916) 845-5105

Tax Administration and Procedure Bureau

The Tax Administration and Procedure Bureau represents and provides guidance to the Department with respect to administrative and procedural issues arising under the Revenue and Taxation Code and the Administration of Franchise and Income Tax Law. The Bureau handles protest, appeal and litigation cases involving these areas of law. Staff also handle Government Claim cases. In addition, the Bureau is responsible for the administration of the appeal, docketed protest, and Chief Counsel Penalty Relief functions and work with the bureaus having the functional responsibility for these areas.

Tax Administration and Procedure Bureau
Contact Phone number
Jaclyn Zumaeta, Bureau Director (916) 845-3980
AnaMarijia Antic-Jezildzic (916) 845-4841
Maria Brosterhous (916) 845-7651
Paige Chang (916) 845-7818
Brad Coutinho (916) 845-2061
Camille Dixon (916) 845-7652
Sarah Fassett (916) 845-6568
Noel Garcia-Rossenblum (916) 845-7078
Cynthia Kent (713) 853-4604
Phil Kleam (916) 845-2478
Nancy Parker (916) 845-7968
Alisa Pinarbasi (916) 845-5164
Amanda Smith (916) 845-2869
Joel Smith (916) 845-5429
Tristen Thalhuber (916) 845-2027
Topher Tuttle (916) 845-5142
Andrea Watkins (916) 845-1860
Brian Werking (916) 845-5429
Dispute Managment Section
Contact Phone number
Dawn Casey (916) 845-3353
Caitlin Russo (916) 845-1746
Kristen Yeager (916) 845-4079

Technical Resources Bureau

The Technical Resources Bureau contains the Legislation, Policy and Review, and the Administrative Support sections. The Legislation, Policy and Review section is responsible for coordinating, noticing and providing advice regarding FTB board meetings, coordinating FTB publications (including Legal rulings and FTB Notices) providing legal advice regarding legislation, and coordinating the adoption process and publication of regulations. The Administrative Support section is responsible for budgeting, business and facilities planning, technical and clerical support, and office management.

Technical Resources Bureau
Contact Phone number
Shane Hofeling, Bureau Director (916) 845-4581

Legislation, Policy and Review Section

Contact Phone number
Erin Dendorfer (916) 845-2559
Red Gobuty (916) 845-7855
Tina Kenzie (916) 845-4082
Anna Lok (916) 845-5975
Patti Price (916) 845-6151

Administrative Proceedings and Support Section

Contact Phone number
LaJena Jordan, Manager (916) 845-5086
Mariselda Anderson (916) 845-7366
Steven Langston (916) 845-7890
Jayson Gottman (916) 845-4576
Contact Phone number
Vacant, Supervisor -
Kenya Abbey (916) 845-3724
Lynn Au (916) 845-4792
David Cortez (916) 845-7546
Peter Hoang (916) 845-7961
Alfonso Jimenez (916) 845-6135
Patrick Luu (916) 845-4809
Debbie Nagel (916) 845-4890
Selena Tran (916) 845-6850
Rosemary Villasenor (916) 845-5405
Toy Wong (916) 845-3867
Contact Phone number
Eldra Benjamin, Supervisor (916) 845-4618
Philip Dalhaus (916) 845-1333
Jay Decastro (916) 845-4939
Shavila Devi (916) 845-2272
Terah Dominique (916) 845-2398
Jimm Leyretana (916) 845-0358
Angeli Moua (916) 845-5678
Julie Peterson (916) 845-2847
Steven Rose (916) 845-5066