Troy Beam

[Noah]

The Shippensburg-area contractor used almost the whole court day to tell the eight-woman, four-man jury why he shouldn’t be convicted of tax evasion, obstructing the Internal Revenue Service and failure to file income taxes, a total of eight felony counts that carry a potential penalty of 12 years in prison, about $900,000 in fines and more than $1 million in allegedly unpaid taxes.

“I had zero income” since 1996, said Beam, 47, of the 400 block of Shippensburg Road, Hopewell Township. He testified that he and his wife, Debbie, and their nine children live on gifts and donations they receive as they travel in a converted Greyhound bus, performing gospel music and sharing the story of one son’s miraculous recovery from a farm accident.


http://www.shipnc.com/articles/2011/05/ ... 294921.txt

Place your bets here..... win, place or show...

[Demosthenes]

The defense concluded Beam’s testimony late Monday and prosecuting attorney Mark McDonald began challenging Beam’s story, questioning the defendant about two wire transfers totaling $600,000 from a bank account in Panama in 2007. The account, in the name of Bancroft Management SA, was transferred to Beam’s father, Melvin Beam, after Beam was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2010. Before the transfer, Troy and Debbie Beam were the only signators on the account, with Beam named as president of Bancroft and Debbie as secretary.

“You studied the Internal Revenue Code, right? … you know it says ‘gross income’ means all income, from whatever source?” McDonald asked Beam, who was a state auditor until 1991.

Juries hate weasels.

[Pottapaug1938]

Lowell Becraft is the attorney. Why am I not surprised? And, why is Becraft still licensed to practice law?

[Nikki]

Lowell Becraft, Save-A-Patriot Foundation, Commonwealth Trust Co

New trial -- same old names.

It's almost a shame that these tax deniers don't bother to follow up on the status of their gurus

Save-A-Patriot (11/29/2006)
This Court has found that Defendants John Baptist Kotmair and Save-A-Patriot Fellowship have engaged in conduct subject to penalty under IRC §§ 6700 and 6701 in connection with their fraudulent promotion of the "U.S.-Sources" or "Section 861" argument. This argument has no basis in law and has been consistently rejected by the courts.

[Quixote]

Lowell Becraft is the attorney. Why am I not surprised? And, why is Becraft still licensed to practice law?

His public statements about the validity of the income tax are beyond looney, but, iirc, he never makes a frivolous argument in court. He seems to be a fairly competent criminal defense attorney.

[wserra]

Way back when, I actually read the Lloyd Long trial transcript. Becraft did a perfectly competent job. Part of that competence was his argument, which he doesn't seem to publicize very much. That argument proceeded along the lines that ol' Lloyd wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, so he didn't realize what the rest of us do - that you have to pay taxes.

I imagine that publicizing that argument wouldn't help Becraft find his type of client.

[Nikki]

He made (and paid for) at least one frivolous statement in court:

IN RE LOWELL H. BECRAFT, JR.;
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff/Appellee, v.
KENNETH W. NELSON, Defendant/Appellant

No. 88-1113

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

885 F.2d 547; 1989 U.S. App. LEXIS 13415; 64 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5656; 15 Fed. R. Serv. 3d
(Callaghan) 183

September 6, 1989, Filed

JUDGES: Ferguson, Norris and Wiggins, Circuit Judges.

OPINION: ORDER

In February 1988, Kenneth Nelson was convicted in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada on three counts of failure to file income tax returns in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7203. Nelson, represented by counsel Lowell H. Becraft, Jr., then appealed to this court claiming, inter alia, that the district court erred in refusing to give his proposed jury instruction that a United States citizen residing in the United States is not subject to the federal income tax laws.

By memorandum disposition dated March 22, 1989, this court affirmed Nelson's conviction, noting that Becraft's argument regarding the inapplicability of the federal tax laws to resident United States citizens had no basis in law. Becraft thereafter filed a petition for rehearing and/or suggestion for rehearing en banc [hereafter "petition for rehearing"]. In the petition for rehearing, Becraft once again argued that the federal tax laws are inapplicable to resident United States citizens.

Upon receipt of the petition for rehearing, we, sua sponte, issued a show cause order requesting Becraft to explain why damages in the sum of $ 2500 should not be assessed against him for filing a frivolous petition for rehearing. See Appendix A. We have now reviewed Becraft's several-hundred page reply to our show cause order [hereinafter "reply"] and have reached the conclusion that Becraft's conduct warrants sanctions.

...

The Clerk of this Court shall enter a judgment in the sum of $ 2,500 in favor of the United States of America and against Lowell H. Becraft, Jr.

[notorial dissent]

Actually, as I remember, Loonie Larry has been zinged on a number of occasions for going off in the weeds in some of his cases. That he doesn't make a habit of it it or is particularly pathological about it is part of the reason he is still practicing. I seem to remember him getting smacked for his "no Federal authority" argument at least once.

The thing that I have noticed is that he is a bit of a hypocrite in that he talks a good “tax denier” talk, but generally in most of the tax cases I am familiar with he seems to fall back on the “too dumb to walk and chew gum defense”, since it seems to be the one that works. I think that if someone were to do a check, they would find that the majority of his "wins" have been of the above nature.

[grixit]

He testified that he and his wife, Debbie, and their nine children live on gifts and donations they receive as they travel in a converted Greyhound bus, performing gospel music and sharing the story of one son’s miraculous recovery from a farm accident.

Hmm, make that bluegrass music and you've got the makings of a really successful movie. You can have the Travelling Willburies do a cameo.

[wserra]

he talks a good “tax denier” talk, but generally in most of the tax cases I am familiar with he seems to fall back on the “too dumb to walk and chew gum defense”

As in Long. Exactly.

[Noah]

he talks a good “tax denier” talk, but generally in most of the tax cases I am familiar with he seems to fall back on the “too dumb to walk and chew gum defense”

As in Long. Exactly.

As in Tommy Cryer. NOT exactly

[Nikki]

One of the most ironic things about Becraft is that his name appears quite often in various court opinions as in "United States v. Nelson (In re Becraft), 885 F.2d 547, 548 (9th Cir. 1989) (sanctions were imposed on counsel in criminal cases, notwithstanding greater leeway generally allowed under Model Rule 3.1); "

"Defendants argue that the Court lacks jurisdiction because the taxes at issue are 'direct taxes without apportionment.' This argument is frivolous. See In re Becraft, 885 F.2d 547, 548 (9th Cir. 1989) ('We hardly need comment on the patent absurdity and frivolity of such a proposition [that direct nonapportioned income taxes are unconstitutional].')"

In fact, The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments immortalizes Becreft in

In re Becraft, 885 F.2d 547, 549-50 (9th Cir. 1989) – the court, observing Becraft’s claim that federal laws apply only to United States territories and the District of Columbia “has no semblance of merit,” and noting that this attorney had previously litigated cases in the federal appeals courts that had “no reasonable possibility of success,” imposed monetary damages and expressed the hope “that this assessment will deter Becraft from asking this and other federal courts to expend more time and resources on patently frivolous legal positions.”

[.]

If success in chasing the TP ambulance is defined as ignominious fame, then Becraft wins.

Fees get paid, clients wind up bankrupt and/or in prison. What's not to like from the standpoint of the provider of the "defense" other than there are probably not too many referrals?

[Gregg]

If success in chasing the TP ambulance is defined as ignominious fame, then Becraft wins.

Fees get paid, clients wind up bankrupt and/or in prison. What's not to like from the standpoint of the provider of the "defense" other than there are probably not too many referrals?

You know what they say about stupid: If you build it, they will come.

[Noah]

http://www.cumberlink.com/shippensburg/

Update and the Jury is out....place your bets here

[Noah]

http://www.cumberlink.com/shippensburg/

Update and the Jury is out....place your bets here

Guilty all counts


"Shortly after 3 p.m. today, the jury in Troy beam's federal tax evasion trial found him guilty on all six counts.

Beam remains free on bail, subject to electronic monitoring, and sentencing has been set for Aug. 12.

Check back to cumberlink for more of this story later today."

[Dr. Caligari]

That didn't take long.

[webhick]

Damned juries. They don't leave us much time to make wagers anymore.

[Demosthenes]

__________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TAX
WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011 202) 514-2007
WWW.JUSTICE.GOV TDD (202) 514-1888

PENNSYLVANIA TAX DEFIER HOME BUILDER AND LANDLORD CONVICTED OF TAX FRAUD

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Troy A. Beam was convicted today in the Middle District of Pennsylvania before U.S. District Judge Christopher C. Conner. Beam, a resident of Shippensburg, Pa., was convicted of tax evasion, obstructing and impeding the due administration of the Internal Revenue laws and willful failure to file federal income tax returns, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

According to the indictment and evidence at trial, Beam, a former certified public accountant and state auditor in the Pennsylvania Auditor General’s Office, earned substantial sums of income from 1992 to the date of the indictment while operating a home construction business known as “Sunbeam Builders,” as well as owning and operating two real estate businesses known as “Latrobe Leasing” and “Goldstar Property Management” that purchased, rented and sold real estate. Despite earning substantial income from these businesses, as well as other activities, Beam failed to file any federal income tax returns since April 1996, when he filed his 1995 tax return reporting a loss. In April 1996, Beam also filed false amended federal income tax returns for 1992, 1993 and 1994, seeking tax refunds for taxes he previously had paid for those years.

The indictment alleged and the evidence at trial proved that Beam obstructed the IRS in its attempt to calculate and collect his taxes by using numerous sham trusts and other entities, including North Star Investment Holdings Ltd. to hide his income and assets. Beam used North Star to set up a bank account in the Cayman Islands into which he deposited nearly $3 million of income derived from his construction business.

Beam faces up to 12 years of in prison, $900,000 in fines and full restitution to the IRS for all back taxes due and owing. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 12, 2011.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney John A. DiCicco of the Department of Justice’s Tax Division and Peter J. Smith, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, commended the IRS-Criminal Investigation special agents who investigated the case, as well as Tax Division trial attorneys Jorge Almonte and Mark S. McDonald who prosecuted the case.

[Duke2Earl]

I split off the Donald Bailey stuff into a separate thread entitled "Bailey's lament"