United States v. Rubenstein

228 F. Supp. 3d 223, 2017 WL 75853
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 9, 2017
DocketNo. 03-CR-00723 (JFB)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 228 F. Supp. 3d 223 (United States v. Rubenstein) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Rubenstein, 228 F. Supp. 3d 223, 2017 WL 75853 (E.D.N.Y. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Joseph F. Bianco, District Judge:

In February 2009, defendant William Rubenstein (“defendant” or “Rubenstein”) entered into a plea agreement (ECF No. 597 Ex. A (the “Agreement”)) with the Tax Division of the United States Department of Justice (the “Tax Division”) and the Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the United States Department of Justice (the “Environmental Crimes Section,” together, the “government”). (Rubenstein Cert. ¶ 11; Lipari Dec. Ex. A.) Under the terms of the Agreement, Rubenstein pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Services (the “IRS”) by defeating the assessment and collection of nearly $1.9 million in federal excise taxes for the period from July 1995 to February 2000. (Lupari Dec. Ex. A ¶ 10.) He agreed to cooperate fully with the government in its prosecution of his co-defendant, Dov Shellef, to pay a fíne of $10,000, and to make restitution in the amount of $940,230.50, which represented half of the excise tax that had been avoided as a result of the conspiracy. (Rubenstein Cert. ¶ 12.) In August 2011, this Court sentenced Rubenstein to time-served and the payment of the restitution and fine as set forth in the Agreement. (Rubenstein Cert. ¶ 13.) Rubenstein made the restitution payment in full on the same day. (Id. ¶ 14.)

In September 2015, the IRS sent Ru-benstein four notices for unpaid restitution for the years 1997 through 2000, a portion of the period during which the conspiracy to which Rubenstein pled guilty took place. (Rubenstein Cert. ¶¶ 17-20; Gov’t Br. 5.) The total amount of the IRS’s assessment was $2,120,348.86. (Lupari Dec. Exs. C, D, E, F.)

Since that time, Rubenstein has contested the IRS’s assertion that he owes this amount. On March 15, 2016, Rubenstein filed the instant Order to Show Cause, by which he seeks injunction relief to stay the collection of any taxes by the IRS on the basis that the IRS’s attempt to collect this restitution amount under the Firearm Excise Tax Improvement Act of 2010 (the “Act”) violates the Ex Post Facto and Double Jeopardy Clauses of the United States Constitution. Rubenstein further requests a declaration from the Court that his resti[226]*226tution obligations to the IRS were satisfied in full on the day of the sentencing because the Agreement entered by Rubenstein, the Tax Division, and the Environmental Crimes Section extinguishes any further monetary liability on the part of Ruben-stein with respect to the United States government. In other words, Rubenstein asserts that because the Tax Division and the Environmental Crimes Section signed the Agreement, all other U.S. agencies are prohibited from pursuing any other actions—whether civil or criminal—against Rubenstein relating to the conduct underlying his Agreement.

For the reasons stated herein, the Court disagrees and denies Rubenstein’s motion in its entirety.

I. Background

The following facts are taken from the parties’ submissions. Unless otherwise noted, the facts are undisputed by the parties.

A. The Criminal Case: Verdict To Remand

On July 28, 2005, Rubenstein and Shellef were found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to defraud the IRS and wire fraud. (ECF No. 137.)1 The conduct underlying the offense involved Rubenstein and Shellefs purchase of CF-113, commonly known as freon, a hazardous chemical subject to extensive regulations in the United States. (Rubenstein’s Br. Supp. Order Show Cause (“Def. Br.”), ECF No. 591-1 at 1.) When freon is sold domestically, manufacturers must pay an excise tax. (Id.) When freon is exported, manufacturers are not required pay an excise tax. (Id.) In contravention of law, Rubenstein and Shellef represented to two different manufacturers from which they purchased freon that they were going to export it, thereby avoiding the excise tax, subsequently sold a portion of it domestically, and did not inform the manufacturers of the domestic sales. (Id. at 1-2.) This caused the manufacturers to not pay the excise taxes. (Id.)

On March 2006, Rubenstein was sentenced to a term of 18 months in prison and the payment of $1,880,461 in restitution (which represented the excise tax that had been avoided as a result of the conspiracy), $4,400 in assessments, and a $10,000 fine. (Rubenstein Cert. ¶7.) The following month, the Court granted Ru-benstein’s application for an installment plan to pay the nearly $1.9 million in restitution before he reported to prison in August of that year. (Rubenstein Cert. ¶ 8.) Rubenstein completed the restitution payments in full less than three months later. (Rubenstein Cert. ¶ 9.)

In November 2007, the Second Circuit reversed Rubenstein’s conviction because the indictment had improperly joined Shellef and Rubenstein as defendants. United States v. Shellef, 507 F.3d 82, 82 (2d Cir. 2007). The case was remanded for a new trial. (Id.) In April 2008, the district court ordered the return of the nearly $1.9 million in restitution, the $4,400 assessment, and the $10,000 fine to Rubenstein. (Ru-benstein Cert. ¶ 10.) In June 2008, the IRS returned the money. (Id.)

B. The Plea Agreement

In February 2009, Rubenstein entered the Agreement with the Tax Division and the Environmental Crimes Section. (Ru-benstein Cert. ¶ 11; Lipari Dec. Ex. A.) Later that month, the Honorable Thomas C. Platt accepted the plea. (ECF No. 514.) As noted above, under the terms of the plea, Rubenstein pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud the IRS by defeating the assessment and collection of federal excise [227]*227taxes of nearly $1.9 million for the period from July 1995 to February 2000 (Lupari Dec. Ex. A ¶ 10). He agreed to cooperate fully with the government in its prosecution of Shellef, to pay a fine of $10,000, and to make restitution in the amount of $940,230.50, which represented half of the excise tax that had been avoided as a result of the conspiracy. (Rubenstein Cert. ¶ 12.) Although the Agreement called for half the excise tax, the proof at the trial that concluded in June 2003 demonstrated that Rubenstein’s share of the total excise tax that had been avoided was only eight percent. (Rubenstein Cert. ¶ 12.)

In relevant part, the Agreement further provided that (1) the government agreed not to bring any “further criminal charges” against Rubenstein for his role in the conspiracy and (2) the Agreement

incorporate^] the complete understanding between the parties, and no other promises have been made by the Government to the defendant .... This Agreement does not prevent any governmental agency from pursuing civil or administrative actions against defendant or any property.
Unless an exception to this paragraph is explicitly set forth elsewhere in this document, this Agreement does not bind or obligate governmental agencies other than the Environmental Crimes Section and the Tax Division of the United States Department of Justice ....

(Lupari Dec. Ex. A ¶¶ 12-13.)

In August 2011, Rubenstein was sentenced by this Court to time-served and the payment of the fine and restitution as called for in the Agreement. (Rubenstein Cert. ¶ 13.) As noted above, Rubenstein made the restitution payment in full on the same day. (Rubenstein Cert. ¶ 14.)

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Bluebook (online)
228 F. Supp. 3d 223, 2017 WL 75853, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-rubenstein-nyed-2017.