United States v. Cooney

754 F. Supp. 255, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17805, 1990 WL 251482
CourtDistrict Court, D. Rhode Island
DecidedNovember 28, 1990
DocketCrim. No. 90-033 P
StatusPublished

This text of 754 F. Supp. 255 (United States v. Cooney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Rhode Island primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Cooney, 754 F. Supp. 255, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17805, 1990 WL 251482 (D.R.I. 1990).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

PETTINE, Senior District Judge.

The defendant moves to dismiss a Criminal Information in three counts, which was lodged against him, charging that he failed to file his income tax returns for the years 1983, 1984 and 1985. The motion to dismiss is premised on the allegations that the defendant is the subject of deliberate discrimination and that the present prosecution is based on selective, invidious, bad or other impermissible grounds. For reasons which follow, the defendant’s motion to dismiss is denied.

I.

I accept the facts as recited by the litigants in their respective memorandum; I reserve to each the right to disprove, through an evidentiary hearing, the conclusions I have drawn from their submissions.

It appears that on September 4, 1986, Revenue Officer Howard Sutton of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was assigned the frustrating task of collecting a delinquent tax account due from this defendant.

The agent’s “Investigation History” records repeated unsuccessful efforts to personally meet with the defendant. The agent’s futile quest began with a visit to defendant’s house only to find, when he arrived, that the defendant was not there. This was followed by a telephone call the next day, which produced no results; the agent was advised the defendant was out of town. However, subsequently, the defendant did phone the agent and stated he would contact him on December 8, 1986 either by phone or personally; no such contact was ever made. On the trail again, the agent phoned defendant on January 21, 1987 and scheduled a meeting for January 27, 1987. Once more the results were negative — on the very day of the scheduled meeting, the defendant phoned stating he had injured himself and could not be present. In dogged pursuit, another appointment was scheduled for February 2— this time the defendant stated he could not meet because he had a slipped disc. On March 9, 1987, the agent tried again to see the defendant but could make no contact because the defendant was not at home.

In pursuing this case, the agent learned that the defendant owned the real estate in which he resided and had substantial taxable income for the years 1981 through 1985 for which no withholding had been taken nor tax returns filed. At this point, the agent prepared Form 3212, "Referral Report of Potential Fraud Cases,” and referred the matter to the Criminal Investigation Division for further action.

The defendant does not dispute these facts but does factually offer in support of his motion the following:

a) “no other T.D.I. [taxpayer delinquency investigation], of which there have been many hundreds, has been referred to the Criminal Investigation Division for prosecution, or has ultimately been eventually prosecuted”;

b) “the agent’s impatience and the fact that the investigation had taken a long time” stimulated and inspired this selective prosecution;

c) the revenue agent failed to employ a number of statutory alternatives that could have resolved the delinquency problem, namely: 1) 26 U.S.C. § 7602(a) (requires an individual to give testimony or submit records within ten days or face the possibility of civil and/or criminal contempt); and 2) 26 U.S.C. § 6020(b) (creates a return [257]*257from the records available at the Service Center).

II.

There is scant legal or factual authority to support the defendant’s position. He rests primarily on United States v. Penagaricano-Soler, 911 F.2d 833 (1st Cir.1990) and United States v. Bourque, 541 F.2d 290 (1st Cir.1976).

In the Penagaricano-Soler case, the president of a Puerto Rican bank was convicted of felony offenses on the basis of the bank’s failure to file required currency transaction reports. The prosecution resulted from a

massive investigation into bank money laundering operations-dubbed “Operation Greenback”_ Defendant claimed selective prosecution, and moved to dismiss the indictment, and for discovery, on representations that several mainland banks were assessed civil penalties only, and that their officers were never prosecuted, despite billions of dollars in unreported currency transactions. Defendant pointed to public statements by several high-ranking officials (not connected with Justice or Treasury) that “Operation Greenback” was intended to put mainland bankers on notice, and that the Justice Department had prosecuted very few mainland bank officials, in contrast to its “massive raid” on Puerto Rico banks. All allegations were based on press reports.

Id. at 836.

The government’s response revealed that some mainland banks were prosecuted and that, indeed, others were not. In those cases where there was no prosecution, bank officials had made voluntary disclosure following internal audits; therefore, instead, civil penalties were assessed. Furthermore, the government argued that its evidence showed disproportionately large cash deposit surplus in Puerto Rican banks as compared to other jurisdictions. Finally, the government directly attacked the selective prosecution accusation by showing that mainland banks were prosecuted and that in two-thirds of the cases bank officials had been prosecuted as well.

The court denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss and refused to order discovery.

I dwell upon this case because both sides cite it in support of their respective positions, and I feel its teaching is dispositive of this debate.

In the present case, the acts are different; the defendant’s case was referred by the collection officer for criminal investigation because: a) in the normal course of his investigation, the officer, trying to collect a delinquent account, looked for assets; b) in the process of doing so, he learned that the defendant had not filed tax returns for the years 1981-1985, though he had substantial income for four of those five years; c) no vehicles were registered in the defendant’s name although late model luxury vehicles were parked in the defendant’s driveway; and d) that the defendant owned the real estate in which he resided. It was this information, coupled with the futility and frustration the agent experienced in trying to meet with the defendant, that initiated the questioned referral.

III.

The law is quite clear. The First Circuit has pointed out in Penagaricano-Soler, supra, at 837, quoting from Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356, 373-74, 6 S.Ct. 1064, 1072-73, 30 L.Ed. 220 (1886) that:

[tjhough the law itself be fair on its face and impartial in appearance, if it is applied and administered by public authority with an evil eye and an unequal hand, so as practically to make unjust and illegal discriminations between persons in similar circumstances, material to their rights, the denial of equal justice is still within the prohibition of the Constitution.

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Yick Wo v. Hopkins
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United States v. Pablo Berrios
501 F.2d 1207 (Second Circuit, 1974)
United States v. Marcel Bourque
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690 F.2d 648 (Seventh Circuit, 1982)
United States v. Thomas J. Bassford
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United States v. Raul Enrique Penagaricano-Soler
911 F.2d 833 (First Circuit, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
754 F. Supp. 255, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17805, 1990 WL 251482, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-cooney-rid-1990.