Schiff Gets Extra 11 Months

[LPC]

As most of you remember, the 9th Circuit reversed and remanded part of Irwin Schiff's conviction and sentencing, finding that the trial judge had not followed the proper procedure in adding addition time to Schiff's sentence because of Schiff's criminal contempt during his trial. The trial judge has now apparently fixed the problem.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, September 8, 2008
http://WWW.USDOJ.GOV
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(202) 514-2007
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Tax Defier Irwin Schiff Sentenced to 11 Additional Months in Prison for Criminal Contempt

WASHINGTON - A federal district court in Las Vegas has sentenced tax defier Irwin Schiff to 11 months in prison for criminal contempt, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. U.S. District Judge Kent J. Dawson reinstated 15 criminal contempt convictions imposed during Schiff’s 2005 trial for promotion of tax defier schemes. The 11 month sentence is to be served consecutively to the 151 month sentence previously imposed for Schiff’s conspiracy and tax convictions.

In October 2005, Schiff was convicted of conspiring to defraud the United States, aiding and assisting in the preparation of false income tax returns, filing his own false tax returns, and evading the payment of millions of dollars in back taxes owed. Additionally, Judge Dawson convicted Schiff of 15 counts of criminal contempt relative to Schiff’s unruly behavior during the trial.

According to the indictment and the evidence introduced at trial, beginning in 1995, Schiff aided thousands of taxpayers in the filing of false federal income tax returns with the IRS that reported zero taxable income despite the taxpayers earning reportable income. Schiff owned and operated Freedom Books, a business that sold books, tapes and informational packages encouraging customers not to pay income tax. According to a government witness who testified at trial, between 1997 and 2002, Freedom Books sold more than $4.2 million of these products.

The evidence presented at trial also proved that Schiff evaded the payment of more than $2 million in taxes he owed the IRS between 1979 and 1985. Schiff concealed income he earned from Freedom Books, in part, by using offshore bank accounts and conducting financial transactions through secret "warehouse" banking services. The evidence also showed that Schiff used debit cards issued by offshore banks to obtain funds he transferred offshore, that he opened bank accounts using multiple tax identification numbers and that he concealed his wealth by hiding his assets through the use of nominees.

The October 2005 conviction marked the third time Schiff was convicted for committing federal tax offenses. Prior to this conviction, Schiff has spent more than four years in jail for his tax crimes. Also, in June 2003, a federal district court barred Schiff and two associates from selling their tax scheme, which the court held falsely claims that paying federal income tax is voluntary. The order bars Schiff and his associates from advertising or selling Schiff’s "zero-income tax return" plan; preparing tax returns for others; and assisting others to violate the tax law, including by "selling services, books or other materials that provide direction about how to fill out fraudulent or false tax forms." In August 2004, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the June 2003 preliminary injunction order.

"Under the National Tax Defier Initiative, the Tax Division has committed to vigorously investigate, prosecute and convict those who engage in illegal tax defier conduct anywhere in this nation," said Nathan J. Hochman, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

"Taxpayers have the right to contest their tax liability; they do not have the right to violate the law," said IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Eileen Mayer. "Mr. Schiff, like all citizens, must abide by the laws that govern all of us."

Assistant Attorney General Hochman thanked the Tax Division trial attorneys who prosecuted the case, as well as IRS Criminal Investigation special agents whose assistance was essential to the successful investigation and prosecution of the case.

More information about the Justice Department’s efforts to stop tax fraud promoters and preparers through civil and criminal actions is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax.

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08-789

[SteveSy]

Woo hoo now we for sure get to provide life support at the taxpayers expense! The DOJ really showed him he can't get over on the taxpayers!

Largely because of health care expenses, the average cost of housing an inmate over 60 is $70,000 a year, or about three times the average cost for prisoners overall, said John Mills, a researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200 ... ates_x.htm

[Doktor Avalanche]

If you consider spending a goodly chunk of your life in an 8 X 10 cell as "getting over on the taxpayer".

Consider, also, that the "care" Schiff is going to recieve in prison is sub-standard (at best), $70,000 isn't enough.

[SteveSy]

If you consider spending a goodly chunk of your life in an 8 X 10 cell as "getting over on the taxpayer".

No he may not be very happy there, but then the DOJ isn't doing the taxpayers any favors by sticking him there either. A million hours of community service confined to house arrest for the rest of his life would have served the taxpayers better IMO. Let him eat up all his hidden offshore funds on taking care of his own butt.

[Doktor Avalanche]

If you consider spending a goodly chunk of your life in an 8 X 10 cell as "getting over on the taxpayer".

No he may not be very happy there, but then the DOJ isn't doing the taxpayers any favors by sticking him there either. A million hours of community service confined to house arrest for the rest of his life would have served the taxpayers better IMO. Let him eat up all his hidden offshore funds on taking care of his own butt.

True, there is that whole "let the punishment fit the crime" angle.

For once we agree.

[Burzmali]

Though, if left free, I can't imagine a scenario where Schiff would comply with anything the government asked of him.

[SteveSy]

Though, if left free, I can't imagine a scenario where Schiff would comply with anything the government asked of him.

He doesn't have to be free...house arrest under supervision. Taxpayers are going to be footing close to a million housing him, how did that help the taxpayers?

[Mr. Mephistopheles]

Though, if left free, I can't imagine a scenario where Schiff would comply with anything the government asked of him.

Beat me to it. I suppose that Schiff's lengthy prison sentence might also serve as a deterrent to others tempted by the TP kool-aid. Might...

[SteveSy]

Though, if left free, I can't imagine a scenario where Schiff would comply with anything the government asked of him.

Beat me to it. I suppose that Schiff's lengthy prison sentence might also serve as a deterrent to others tempted by the TP kool-aid. Might...

Now you're drinking kool-aid. We have the largest inmate population in the world, don't think the deterrent thing is working so well.

[Doktor Avalanche]

Now you're drinking kool-aid. We have the largest inmate population in the world, don't think the deterrent thing is working so well.

Now there's the Steve I remember! Geeze...you had it all and you had to go and blow it with that statement.

[Doktor Avalanche]

Though, if left free, I can't imagine a scenario where Schiff would comply with anything the government asked of him.

Beat me to it. I suppose that Schiff's lengthy prison sentence might also serve as a deterrent to others tempted by the TP kool-aid. Might...

It's a little early in the morning for sarcasm there, Sunny Jim.

[SteveSy]

Now you're drinking kool-aid. We have the largest inmate population in the world, don't think the deterrent thing is working so well.

Now there's the Steve I remember! Geeze...you had it all and you had to go and blow it with that statement.

I obviously don't mean we shouldn't use deterrent at all. I'm simply saying it isn't the end all. You have to way the societal pros and cons. People like Schiff are not a danger to society, a nuisance maybe. We have to many nuisances in prison, that's why we have the largest inmate population in the world IMO.

[The Observer]

No he may not be very happy there, but then the DOJ isn't doing the taxpayers any favors by sticking him there either. A million hours of community service confined to house arrest for the rest of his life would have served the taxpayers better IMO. Let him eat up all his hidden offshore funds on taking care of his own butt.

And what do you recommend should happen when Schiff refuses to do his community service? It is a likely scenario give then fact that Schiff does not agree with his conviction and sentencing and has demonstrated his contempt for the court system.

[SteveSy]

No he may not be very happy there, but then the DOJ isn't doing the taxpayers any favors by sticking him there either. A million hours of community service confined to house arrest for the rest of his life would have served the taxpayers better IMO. Let him eat up all his hidden offshore funds on taking care of his own butt.

And what do you recommend should happen when Schiff refuses to do his community service? It is a likely scenario give then fact that Schiff does not agree with his conviction and sentencing and has demonstrated his contempt for the court system.

Well, he's still confined to house arrest being supervised. Take away his phone, limit his quality of food etc. If longer prison sentences were a deterrent to tax issues then the problem wouldn't be growing, yet it is.

What is the purpose of putting him there anyway? Isn't it ultimately to make sure the government collects taxes? If we're spending money instead of collecting it how did we accomplish the mission? People who have no money pose no threat to the government coffers so sticking them in prison because they didn't pay accomplishes nothing except to show how big of a stick you have and to waste tax dollars housing them. People who have money do pose a threat to tax collection and those people would find the fact that they have everything taken from them a serious deterrent. Sticking them in prison only costs everyone money, they don't pose a danger to society. Just my opinion of course.

[Demosthenes]

Though, if left free, I can't imagine a scenario where Schiff would comply with anything the government asked of him.

He doesn't have to be free...house arrest under supervision. Taxpayers are going to be footing close to a million housing him, how did that help the taxpayers?

The only time in the last 30 years that Schiff didn't peddle tax scams was when he was in prison (this is his third stay in 30 years). If cost is all you care about, the $70,000 per year it takes to feed and medicate him is teany tiny little peanuts compared to the tax loss to the government if Schiff is released back to the scam peddling world.

[Demosthenes]

Though, if left free, I can't imagine a scenario where Schiff would comply with anything the government asked of him.

He doesn't have to be free...house arrest under supervision. Taxpayers are going to be footing close to a million housing him, how did that help the taxpayers?

Supervision most certainly isn't free. How do you keep him away from cellphones, the internet, his followers without literally building a fortress around him?

He's a charismatic leader. As long as there are cult followers willing to do Schiff's business for him and bring him stuff like computers and cell phones, his scam will thrive.

[SteveSy]

Though, if left free, I can't imagine a scenario where Schiff would comply with anything the government asked of him.

He doesn't have to be free...house arrest under supervision. Taxpayers are going to be footing close to a million housing him, how did that help the taxpayers?

The only time in the last 30 years that Schiff didn't peddle tax scams was when he was in prison (this is his third stay in 30 years). If cost is all you care about, the $70,000 per year it takes to feed and medicate him is teany tiny little peanuts compared to the tax loss to the government if Schiff is released back to the scam peddling world.

No one is saying he should be able to "peddle" anything. He should be confined to his house, and if he tries to peddle anything take away his ability to contact anyone. If that's all they're trying to stop they're are plenty of ways to do that without paying 70k a yr to take care of him.

[Demosthenes]

No one is saying he should be able to "peddle" anything. He should be confined to his house, and if he tries to peddle anything take away his ability to contact anyone. If that's all they're trying to stop they're are plenty of ways to do that without paying 70k a yr to take care of him.

How do you keep followers from bringing him cell phones and wireless internet? Keep in mind that Schiff was quite happy to violate prison rules prior to sentencing my having his minions conference call him into a media interview and into more than one call with Cyndi. How do you keep him from writing a new how-to book?

Schiff's a really sick guy (heart problems and diabetes). What if he needs to call a doctor or 911?

[The Observer]

Well, he's still confined to house arrest being supervised. If longer prison sentences were a deterrent to tax issues then the problem wouldn't be growing, yet it is.

So in effect, your recommendation for community service didn't take into account that he might not comply with it. So the question back at you is why did you recommend wasting the court's time and my tax dollars in issuing a sentence that would not be complied with and couldn't be enforced?

And let us ponder how the rest of the world would view house arrest - is it going to be seen as a sentence that is truly a punishment and a deterrent to others?

What is the purpose of putting him there anyway? Isn't it ultimately to make sure the government collects taxes? If we're spending money instead of collecting it how did we accomplish the mission?

There were multiple purposes and trying to water it down to about whether taxes are collected is not going to work. If we allow Irwin to run about and keep pushing his theory why income taxes are illegal, do you suppose that the government would collect even less taxes?

People who have no money pose no threat to the government coffers so sticking them in prison because they didn't pay accomplishes nothing except to show how big of a stick you have and to waste tax dollars housing them. People who have money do pose a threat to tax collection and those people would find the fact that they have everything taken from them a serious deterrent. Sticking them in prison only costs everyone money, they don't pose a danger to society. Just my opinion of course.

Your focus on whether imprisonment cures a problem is narrow-minded; there are a multitude of reasons for prisons, of hich rehabilitation is only one. You keep bringing up the issue of cost as another argument, but the truth remains that if we want to deal with criminals, there is going to be a cost. If we kept only your arguments that deterrence has failed and that it is costly, we might as well release every prisoner.

But you correctly point out another reason for having prisons: so that people who are a danger to society can be kept away from society. And Irwin Schiff was a danger to society in that he was peddling bad information and inducing them to commit tax crimes. He took their money and gave them the potential to end up in prison themselves.

My other problem with house arrest is that there is little the government can do to prevent Irwin from having contact with the outside world. Leaving Irwin in his house means the risk of Irwin starting his nonsese again either directy or through proxies. The government would have to put an armed guard in front of his house, monitor his phone conversations and inspect his mail. Do you want to argue that kind of house arrest is going to be cheaper than prison?

[SteveSy]

No one is saying he should be able to "peddle" anything. He should be confined to his house, and if he tries to peddle anything take away his ability to contact anyone. If that's all they're trying to stop they're are plenty of ways to do that without paying 70k a yr to take care of him.

How do you keep followers from bringing him cell phones and wireless internet? Keep in mind that Schiff was quite happy to violate prison rules prior to sentencing my having his minions conference call him into a media interview and into more than one call with Cyndi. How do you keep him from writing a new how-to book?

Schiff's a really sick guy (heart problems and diabetes). What if he needs to call a doctor or 911?

You monitor the guy, put frigging cameras in his house....come on it still far cheaper. I mean if he still violates it after than then I guess stick his butt in prison. Maybe Schiff would still violate and end up there anyway, but the vast majority would prefer to be home bound rather than in a cell and it would save the taxpayers a crap load.