On September 24, 1999, at 12:00 noon, I reported to the federal penitentiary at Ashland, Kentucky to begin serving a one-year prison sentence. I was convicted of filing false statements on my law office tax returns. I wasn’t accused of tax evasion or tax fraud. There had been no audit or determination that any tax was owed. I appealed the conviction and asked to be allowed to remain free pending the appeal. The government opposed my request and it was denied. I served the entire year. My appeal has not been heard and it appears that it may never be heard. At last the Civil Appeals Division of the IRS has reviewed my tax returns and determined that the deductions were legitimate and that no tax is now or ever was owed. Unfortunately, this report is laying on the desk of the same person who originally recommended that I be prosecuted, awaiting further action. It has been there since June of 2003
For years during the investigation, I offered to answer any questions and explain any transaction. The offer was refused, and finally I was indicted. The IRS alleged that twenty-six deductions included on the tax return of my law office were improper. How this relates to false statements remains a mystery to me. After hearing the evidence, the court dismissed twenty-two of the twenty-six claims as being entirely unsupported by the evidence or the law. Unfortunately, when the judge dismissed the twenty-two claims, all he told the jury was that he “had removed these items from their considerations.” The jury did not know that the government and its paid witness were completely wrong on eighty-five percent of its claims, only that they were to determine if the IRS was right or wrong on the deductibility of the other transactions. The judge also refused to tell the jury the tax law regarding these transactions. The court of appeals has refused to hear my appeal. Motions have been pending for years.
I had hired an expert who had retired from the IRS Criminal Investigation Division. He was also a tax lawyer and a CPA. He indicated that my returns were proper. He sat through the entire trial and testified that the deductions were entirely correct. The government put on a witness who was an agent of the IRS. She was not the investigating agent. She testified that she was instructed to not ask me any questions or request an explanation from anyone. Unfortunately she not only did not know the law regarding my deductions, but she was willing to embellish her testimony both to the Grand Jury and the jury with statements that were simply not true. In more plain words she lied.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AND IRS BIAS
It appears there may be bias against me in the U. S. Attorney’s office and the IRS. Several instances occurred over the years during which I represented clients who I believed were being harassed by both the IRS and the Justice Department. My efforts on behalf of my clients, most of whom were farmers in serious financial trouble, were usually successful. I would represent them vigorously and within the law, without concerning myself with whether I would be paid or not.
Once, the IRS sought to charge one of my clients with kidnapping an IRS agent – seeking a life sentence. Then after a Grand Jury refused to indict the client, the IRS brought a charge of impeding an IRS agent. The jury deliberated approximately thirty minutes before acquitting my client. (See page 3C Columbus Dispatch December 13, 1989.) I alleged, and I believe I proved, that the IRS agents lied to the Grand Jury and in the trial. This decision resulted in embarrassing publicity against the IRS and the U. S. Attorney’s office.
My primary practice was in the area of bankruptcy reorganization for farmers who had fallen on hard times in the 1980s and early 1990s. I am now disbarred. I suspect that the IRS investigation which lasted eight years contributed to the disbarment. I was the attorney during several cases which resulted in decisions against both the IRS and the Farmers Home Administration represented by the U. S. Attorney’s office. These were significant victories for my clients and resulted in several of the cases becoming the authority for how federal law is followed throughout the country and reported in various law publications. It is hard to believe that these events could in any way cause the government to be prejudiced against me. However, after a simple search on the Internet resulted in thousands of web sites being contacted, I found many shocking examples of abuse that condemn and blaspheme the IRS and accuse the U. S. Attorney’s offices of prosecutorial abuse.
The United States Attorney’s office is endowed with the responsibility to seek justice. It appears that the office is concerned only with whether they can win a case. I suggest that any taxpayer who files a tax return can be subject to criminal prosecution under the procedures followed in my case and be convicted even if the deductions were legitimate. If one is to believe that the justice system works one should be confident that this kind of conduct will not prevail. Unfortunately, it appears that there are hundreds of examples where the IRS and the justice department have trampled the rights and freedom of American citizens solely to win, not to seek justice. Should you wish further details feel free to contact me.
Good job!