Taxable Talk

Civil rights attorney Stephen Yagman was sentenced today to three years at ClubFed for his 19 convictions on bankruptcy fraud, tax fraud, and money laundering. The government had asked for nine years; Yagman had asked to teach a course on morals at UCLA.

Yagman admitted today in testimony that "he got sloppy...I was aware that I had painted a target on my own back and I tried to be scrupulously careful. I made mistakes."

Assistant US Attorney Alka Sagar told the Court on Monday, "He went shopping on Park Avenue hours after his bankruptcy was filed. This was brazen conduct."

Judge Stephen Wilson noted, "Like so many cases in modern history, it's always the cover-up that's worse than the crime. Frankly, I was shocked by his testimony because it was transparently untrue in many areas."

Yagman will appeal his conviction. He must surrender to authorities on January 15th.

News Story: San Jose Mercury News (via AP)

The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
'Til tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
I love ya Tomorrow!
You're always
A day
A way!

Those lyrics, from the musical Annie, describe Stephen Yagman's fate. After a six-hour sentencing hearing today in Los Angeles, the attorney still does not know his fate. He was convicted earlier this year on 19 counts of tax fraud, bankruptcy fraud, and money laundering.

As I noted over the weekend, Yagman would like to teach morals at UCLA. The Department of Justice would like him to visit ClubFed for nine to eleven years.

The news report noted that Judge Stephen Wilson asked, "How do you reconcile his desire to continue to practice in one of the most stressful areas with his medical condition?" Yagman's attorney said that Yagman has been suffering from heart disease.

Yagman's fate will probably be set by the judge tomorrow. I suspect a visit to ClubFed is much more likely than an immediate trip to Westwood. As Chuck Gallagher, a business ethics speaker (and a former ClubFed resident for tax evasion) said, "Yagman has shown from his conviction that he has a disregard for the law through his actions related to hiding assets in bankruptcy and from the IRS (tax evasion). Hence, it would be far reaching to think that the government would consider him a likely candidate to teach morality."

Back in August I reported on the case of La Crosse, Wisconsin dentist Frederick Kriemelmeyer. Dr. Kriemelmeyer is an adherent of the philosophy of David Wynn Miller's "In the Truth." And he doesn't believe in the US flag and the US Tax Code. He was found guilty on three counts of filing false tax returns.

On Monday he found out that he'll have time for remedial English—three years to relearn the language while at ClubFed. He'll also have time to repent for being "greedy," according to Judge Barbara Crabb who sentenced Dr. Kriemelmeyer. He also has to pay $8,000 to repay the government for his prosecution and make restitution of $135,000.

After all, Thanksgiving comes on Thursday, so we should thank these miscreants and alleged miscreants for helping make a blogger's life easy.

Let's start in Manhattan. James Ortenzio used to be the chairman of the New York County (Manhattan) Republican party. Now he's just another individual who has pleaded guilty to tax evasion. Mr. Ortenzio didn't disclose $180,000 he received in consulting income in 2004-2005. The investigation into Mr. Ortenzio grew out of an investigation into the Cipriani family restaurant business. Mr. Ortenzio is lucky in one respect; he'll serve no time at ClubFed. He has to file corrected tax returns (and pay the tax, penalties, and interest) and will be on probation for five years.

Let's move west to Helena, Montana. Rolan Becker worked as a forester for two Indian tribes in the state. However, he bought tapes and attended seminars that said he could declare himself "exempt" from income taxes. Mr. Becker also made the brilliant move of walking into an IRS office and telling the clerk that he wasn't going to file tax returns and that the only reason to file false W-4 forms is to evade taxes. Did I mention that Mr. Becker did exactly that? He was found guilty of tax evasion.

Judge Charles Lovell noted that Mr. Becker worked for a quasi-governmental agency for twelve years and wondered if he realize that it was taxes that paid for his salary. "You are probably the most flagrant protester and tax dodger that I have seen. It makes one wonder where the United States government would be in today’s world if everybody took the same attitude as this defendant."

The judge gave Mr. Becker 27 months at ClubFed, and ordered him to make restitution of $91,700. Additionally, Mr. Becker was ordered to pay $50,000 to cover the cost of his time at ClubFed and $1,700 to help pay for his prosecution. And that's not all. The judge urged the US Attorney to consider charging Mr. Becker with hiding his assets by transferring real estate back and forth to an LLC he created.

Finally, let's head to the heartland—Belleville, Illinois. A dentist there decided that he didn't need to report $347,000 of his income. He also decided to take $127,000 of withheld taxes and keep them. Gerald Dortch pleaded guilty to tax evasion; he'll likely be spending some time at ClubFed.

As I repeatedly say, there is an income tax and you do have to pay it. And it's a whole lot easier to pay it than to evade it and then pay the tax, penalties, and interest.

Barry Bonds was indicted this afternoon on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Bonds was not indicted on any tax charges.

I'm sure this indictment will gets lots of play in the media, and on sports websites such as espn. Given that I reported on Bonds' possible indictment on tax charges, I felt I should set the record straight. He won't be facing that issue. Frankly, though, his baseball career may have just ended.

News Story Here

Robert Beale is the former CEO of a computer parts company. He believed that God, the US Constitution, and 'tyrannical political societies' were good reasons not to pay taxes. Tax authorities begged to differ, and alleged that he hid his salary from taxes by calling himself a "consultant." He was arrested on five counts of tax evasion (allegedly evading taxes on $5.6 million) and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. He was released on bail with a trial date set in Minneapolis for August 2006. The trial, though, didn't occur because of a difficulty: The accused didn't show up. When that happened he became a fugitive.

The US Marshal's Service tracked him down in Orlando, Florida. Mr. Beale was carrying a false passport and other phony identification. He's had one count of failure to appear for his trial added to the list of charges he faces. He'll have a bail hearing soon, though I suspect that the chance that he gets bail is zero. Eventually, he'll find his way back to Minneapolis for trial. An associate has already been tried an sentenced to 43 months at ClubFed for tax evasion and aiding and abetting Mr. Beale; Mr. Beale is likely looking at a lengthy stay at ClubFed if convicted on the charges.

News Story: MSNBC