John J. Manfreda, 73, administrator of the Alcohol & tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau died yesterday. We’re told cause of death was a heart attack.
Manfreda had served as administrator effective Jan. 4, 2005. Before that, he was de3puty administrator since the Bureau’s founding in January 2003. As Administrator, he was responsible for collection of $23.5 billion in federal alcohol, tobacco, firearms and ammunition excises taxes as well as the permitting systems and regulations for those industries under the Internal Revenue Code and Federal Alcohol Administration Act.
Prior to his appointment as TTB Deputy Administrator, Mr. Manfreda was chief counsel for TTB’s predecessor agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), from 1999 to 2003.
In total, Mr. Manfreda was with the ATF Chief Counsel’s office or its Internal Revenue Service predecessor for 33 years, beginning as a staff attorney in July 1970 and serving as Associate Chief Counsel for Alcohol and Tobacco from 1978 through 1996.
During his tenure with ATF, Mr. Manfreda was the principal author of the Distilled Spirits Tax Revision Act, and he has represented TTB or ATF before congressional committees and in contacts with federal and state agencies, trade associations, and public interest groups.
Manfreda is the recipient of the Meritorious and Distinguished Presidential Rank Awards, as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
He received his law degree from the American University School of Law in Washington, D.C., in 1970, and he was a member of the bar in the District of Columbia and for the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Mr. Manfreda also earned a master’s degree in tax law at the Georgetown University Law School in 1974. In addition, he majored in business finance and economics as an undergraduate at the University of Maryland.
A native of the District of Columbia, Mr. Manfreda enjoys carpentry and completing home remodeling projects. He and his wife have three grown children and nine grandchildren.
He will lie in repose at Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel at Georgetown Preparatory School, 10900 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda, MD, on Thursday, May 30, from 5 to 8 p.m. where the Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, May 31 at 10:30 a.m.
Interment will be Gate of Heaven Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at www.stjude.org. This story is developing and will be updated.