Garzon v. United States

605 F. Supp. 738, 56 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6412, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22400
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedFebruary 21, 1985
Docket84-2381-Civ-ATKINS
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 605 F. Supp. 738 (Garzon v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Garzon v. United States, 605 F. Supp. 738, 56 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6412, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22400 (S.D. Fla. 1985).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND FINAL ORDER

ATKINS, Senior District Judge.

This is an action brought by plaintiff, Jorge E. Garzon, against the United States of America pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 7429. 1 *740 Garzón is seeking judicial review of a termination assessment of income taxes against him by the Internal Revenue Service. The assessment of $38,346 was made on July 23, 1984. The plaintiff timely requested administrative review under 26 U.S.C. § 7429(a)(2) and timely commenced this action by the filing of his complaint on October 9, 1984 pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 7429(b)(1). Hearings in this matter were held on October 27,1984 and November 16, 1984.

The plaintiff alleges that this court has jurisdiction under the provisions of 26 U.S.C. § 7429 and 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(e) 2 and 1402(c). 3 The defendant, Government, asserts that this court lacks venue under 26 U.S.C. §§ 7429(e) and 28 U.S.C. § 1402(a)(1) 4 because the plaintiff is a nonresident alien.

Facts

Plaintiff, Garzón, is a citizen of the Republic of Colombia. On the evening of July 17, 1984, plaintiff’s automobile was stopped by officers of the Metro-Dade Police Department on a traffic violation. Plaintiff was accompanied in his car by a passenger named Luis Hernando Juban.

After an initial conversation between the officers and Garzón, the officers indicated that they were suspicious of Garzon’s and Juban’s immigration status. When questioned by the police officer, Garzón stated that he had cash in a shopping bag in the rear of the vehicle. Garzón further stated that the amount was $91,000, and that the cash was to be used to purchase some shoes. Plaintiff has also asserted that he is the manager of a shoe store called Emerald Shoes.

The police officers called in detectives from the Organized Crime Bureau of the Miami-Dade County Public Safety Department who, in turn, called in agents of the U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Garzón was *741 interrogated by the agents of these various investigative agencies for several hours. He voluntarily consented to a search of his vehicle and apartment. A dog trained to sniff narcotics was used to search for evidence of criminal activity. The dog sniffed Garzon’s currency, automobile, and apartment. No evidence of criminal activity was found as a result of this investigation.

Garzón was released but his money was retained by the Property Clerk’s Office of the Organized Crime Bureau. Special Agent Ronald Anderson of the U.S. Customs Service notified the I.R.S. about the possibility of a termination assessment. 5 Internal Revenue Agent Rosa Blanco determined that Garzón owed $38,346 in taxes for the period between January 1, 1984 and July 1984.

At the hearing held in this case, Garzón testified that when his father died in Colombia in 1981, he became heir to a considerable inheritance. A substantial portion of this inheritance consisted of a farm in Colombia which he sold to Hernán Cortes Ortiz. The selling price was the equivalent of $80,000 in U.S. dollars which was paid by Ortiz to Garzón in various installments sometime between June, 1982 and June, 1983. Ortiz made these payments by bringing the U.S. currency from Colombia to the United States. Garzón stated that this additional currency was all part of his inheritance from his father’s estate. Although neither Garzón nor Ortiz could recall the exact amount brought into the United States, they did testify that it was not less than $100,000. According to Garzon, the currency which he had in his possession on July 17, 1984 was part of the inheritance transported by Ortiz.

Ortiz’ passport established that he had, in fact, made numerous trips between Colombia and the United States during 1982 and 1983. He stated that he was a merchant in Colombia who traveled to the United States to purchase merchandise for export to his native country. These purchases were often made for cash which he brought into the United States along with Garzon’s money. Since he often carried in excess of $5,000 in currency, he would report said currency to Customs on its form 4790, commonly referred to as a CMIR. Based upon entry dates stamped in Ortiz’ passport, Customs was able to locate CMIR’s which reflected that Ortiz reported bringing in currency in excess of $350,000 during the period from September 1982 through July 1983.

Garzón was aware that a Custom’s Form 4790 was required to be filed whenever more than $5,000 in currency was transported into the United States. On the evening of July 17, 1984, Garzón was unsure as to whether Ortiz had, in fact, declared the currency he was transporting. In order to protect Ortiz, Garzón concocted a story that the currency in his vehicle had been sent to him via an Avianca Airlines flight on July 12, 1984.

Garzón was employed until sometime in February, 1984, as a part time waiter (working three days a week) at Jacaranda night club. He earned a salary of $15.00 a *742 day plus tips of approximately $60 to $70 a day. He was unemployed from February 1984 until June 16, 1984 when he went to work as a manager at Emerald Shoe Store. His monthly salary there was $1,350 from which his employer deducted FICA tax of $90.45 and income tax of $209.55.

Pursuant to the termination assessment in the amount of $38,346, the defendant, through the Internal Revenue Service, levied upon the $90,780 held by the Property Clerk’s Office of the Organized Crime Bureau. Upon payment to the Internal Revenue Service by the Property Clerk, the balance of the money was returned to Garzón.

Immigration Status

On or about December 30, 1981, the plaintiff applied for and received a nonimmigrant B-l/B-2 multiple entry visa from the United States Consulate in Bogota, Colombia, valid through December 30, 1985. A B-l/B-2 visa permits the visa holder to apply for multiple entries into the United States, provided that no stay exceeds six months in duration. At the time this cause of action arose, Garzón had exceeded the maximum six month stay allowed to him under his multiple-entry visa.

In his affidavit filed with the Internal Revenue Service on September 25, 1984, Garzón stated: “[I]t was never his intention permanently to reside here or to apply for U.S.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Guillaume v. Commissioner
290 F. Supp. 2d 1349 (S.D. Florida, 2003)
Jorge Byron Alegria v. United States
945 F.2d 1523 (Eleventh Circuit, 1991)
Stebco, Inc. v. United States
733 F. Supp. 1387 (S.D. California, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
605 F. Supp. 738, 56 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6412, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22400, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garzon-v-united-states-flsd-1985.