Court Denies Tax Preparer's Motions for Judgment of Acquittal and New Trial

Criminal No. 18-215 (MAS)

Sergio Gardea an accountant and tax return preparer with offices in Akron and Canton, Ohio prevailed in his federal jury trial in dramatic fashion with an unanimous NOT GUILTY verdict on all counts. Mr. Gardea had been charged with 30 counts of willfully filing false tax returns for clients. During the trial 9 counts were dismissed by the government and the jury found Mr. Gardea NOT GUILTY on all 21 counts remaining.

United States v. Sergio Gardea. Tax preparer found not guilty on all 30 counts of preparing false tax returns following a 2-weeks jury trial today. Mr. Gardea was represented by Miami criminal tax lawyer David M. Garvin.

Selecting a Criminal Attorney: If you learned that you were the target of a federal investigation, who would you call? How would you select a lawyer to represent you? In October of 2016 this blog discussed a number of factors that affect the outcome of federal criminal jury trials. This subject matter is revisited with newly published data by the United States District Courts.

It has been long recognized that a criminal statute that is ambiguous and capable of being interpreted to apply to more than one set of conduct, should be applied in a fashion that is narrower in scope.

Which Federal Sentencing Guidelines Apply to a Section 7212 Violation of the Internal Revenue Code for Obstruction of Justice?

The Government Has Focused a Considerable Amount of Energy To Prosecute Taxpayers Who Failed to File FBAR Reports and Accurately Account For Taxes. The Government has used the Required Records Doctrine to compel taxpayers to produce foreign bank account records.

Taxpayers who are the target of an Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division investigation benefit from an understanding of the purpose of these investigations.

District Court finds in FBAR penalty trial that the definition of willful in civil cases includes reckless disregard of tax laws. The Court found that the burden of proof in a civil FBAR penalty case was a mere preponderance of the evidence. The IRS was not bound by the opinion of General Counsel or its own manual that state that the definition of willful should be the same in civil cases as in criminal cases.

The statute of limitations for tax crimes may not begin to run on the later of the date the tax return was due or the date the return was filed. With regard to certain tax crimes, such as 7202, the date that the statute of limitation begins is the date that the taxpayer acted willfully. This will often be a question of fact that must be decided by the jury. As a result, a motion to dismiss based upon dates set forth in the indictment may be denied.