Milton Street trial

[LPC]

Meanwhile the jury continues to deliberate:

T. Milton Street jury continues deliberations

By Joseph A. Slobodzian

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The federal jury considering the fraud and tax charges against T. Milton Street today began a second, full day of deliberations and again returned to open court with a series of questions for the judge.

The 12 jurors deliberated about 50 minutes this morning before sending out a note containing three questions U.S. District Judge Legrome D. Davis described as thoughtful and "very subtle."

The jury asked Davis to repeat the legal definition of "scheme," and whether it could base its verdicts on the brief summaries following each count on the verdict sheet, or the entire text of the 25-page indictment.

The jury also asked for help reconciling what appeared to be a typographical error in the dates on two letters introduced into evidence during the five-day trial.

The judge redefined scheme as a "plan to commit a particular type of fraud. Davis said prosecutors did not have to prove every detail of the allegations in the indictment. But to convict, the judge explained, the jury had to find that the government proved each element of the crimes - mail and wire fraud and various tax counts - beyond a reasonable doubt.

As for the document date issue, Davis, said the jurors would have to use their collective memories of the trial to resolve the discrepancy: "This is a fact question, a factual inconsistency, and you are the finders of fact."

The jury resumed deliberations at 10:55 a.m.

The jury began its review of the evidence beginning late on Tuesday afternoon and spent a full day yesterday deliberating in the charges against Street and co-defendant John H. Velardi Sr.

The 2006 indictment alleges that Street, 68, of Moorestown, a well-known food vendor and former Pennsylvania state legislator, failed to pay taxes on $2 million of consulting fees not earned in his $30,000-a-year food-vending business between 2000 and 2004. Street is also charged with not filing tax returns in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

In addition to the tax charges against him, Street and Velardi, 54, of Media, director of a city contractor working at Philadelphia International Airport, are charged with wire and mail fraud in an alleged 2003 scheme to defraud a Vietnamese immigrant businessman.

Street, allegedly aided by Velardi, is charged with cheating $80,000 from Thanh Nguyen by selling him the rights to a $3.2-million airport maintenance subcontract prosecutors say Street and Velardi knew did not exist.

Yesterday, the jurors remained behind closed doors except for 15 minutes when they returned to court to ask Davis for guidance about how to gauge the legitimacy of Street's tax resister defense.

The jurors asked Davis to re-explain the legal definition of "willful blindness" and Street's stated belief that the U.S. Tax Code is unconstitutional justified not filing tax returns.

The judge said the jurors needed to use their collective experience to decide if Street truly believed his testimony about the validity of the tax code: "The law protects those who are ignorant of the law or who misunderstand the law but that is not someone who simply disagrees with the law."

The alleged fraud, prosecution witnesses testified, involved Street's and Velardi's attempt to assign an airport subcontract to Thanh Nguyen and his V-Tech Services Inc. to recoup money Street owed Velardi's employer, Philadelphia Airport Services.

Prosecutors allege that the rights to the subcontract between PAS and Street's Notlim Inc. were not Street's to sell because the deal was voided by airport officials earlier in 2003 after Mayor John Street ordered his older brother to withdraw because the deal seemed inappropriate. Prosecutors say the ex-mayor was not involved in his brother's alleged crimes.

Nguyen testified on Feb. 11 that after he paid Street $80,000, the subcontract assignment kept getting postponed and Street and Velardi stopped returning his calls.

Street testified that he never promised Nguyen the deal was certain and that it was Nguyen's idea to give him a good-faith deposit of cash. Street called Nguyen and prosecution witnesses liars.

Velardi did not testify, but his lawyer described him as a pawn between Street's scheming and Nguyen's desperate efforts to win a city contract.

Contact staff writer Joseph A. Slobodzian at 215-854-2985 or jslobodzian@phillynews.com.

[wserra]

I think the reporter got it right. From the government's proposed jury instructions:

[What Dan wrote.]

[Demosthenes]

I think the reporter got it right. From the government's proposed jury instructions:

[What Dan wrote.]

Either that, or the judge answered a question the jury didn't ask.

[Demosthenes]

Posted on Thu, Feb. 21, 2008

T. Milton Street jury: We’re deadlocked on 7 charges
By Joseph A. Slobodzian

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The federal jury considering fraud and tax charges against T. Milton Street ended a second full day of deliberations telling the judge they were deadlocked on seven charges.

But U.S. District Judge Legrome D. Davis did not declare a mistrial, telling the 12 jurors he and the defense and government lawyers had decided that "you need to continue discussing the case."

At that point, shortly before 4 p.m., the jury decided to stop deliberations for the day and return tomorrow to resume their review at the federal courthouse in Center City.

It was not clear, based on the juror's note, whether they had reached verdicts on any of the counts against T. Milton Street and co-defendant John H. Velardi Sr. of what those verdicts might be.

This morning, the jurors deliberated about 50 minutes this morning before sending out a note containing three questions that the judge described as thoughtful and "very subtle."

The jury asked Davis to repeat the legal definition of "scheme," and whether it could base its verdicts on the brief summaries following each count on the verdict sheet, or the entire text of the 25-page indictment.

The jury also asked for help reconciling what appeared to be a typographical error in the dates on two letters introduced into evidence during the five-day trial.

The judge redefined scheme as a "plan to commit a particular type of fraud. Davis said prosecutors did not have to prove every detail of the allegations in the indictment. But to convict, the judge explained, the jury had to find that the government proved each element of the crimes - mail and wire fraud and various tax counts - beyond a reasonable doubt.

As for the document date issue, Davis, said the jurors would have to use their collective memories of the trial to resolve the discrepancy: "This is a fact question, a factual inconsistency, and you are the finders of fact."

The jury resumed deliberations at 10:55 a.m.

The jury began its review of the evidence beginning late on Tuesday afternoon and spent a full day yesterday deliberating in the charges against Street and co-defendant John H. Velardi Sr.

The 2006 indictment alleges that Street, 68, of Moorestown, a well-known food vendor and former Pennsylvania state legislator, failed to pay taxes on $2 million of consulting fees not earned in his $30,000-a-year food-vending business between 2000 and 2004. Street is also charged with not filing tax returns in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

In addition to the tax charges against him, Street and Velardi, 54, of Media, director of a city contractor working at Philadelphia International Airport, are charged with wire and mail fraud in an alleged 2003 scheme to defraud a Vietnamese immigrant businessman.

Street, allegedly aided by Velardi, is charged with cheating $80,000 from Thanh Nguyen by selling him the rights to a $3.2-million airport maintenance subcontract prosecutors say Street and Velardi knew did not exist.

Yesterday, the jurors remained behind closed doors except for 15 minutes when they returned to court to ask Davis for guidance about how to gauge the legitimacy of Street's tax resister defense.

The jurors asked Davis to re-explain the legal definition of "willful blindness" and Street's stated belief that the U.S. Tax Code is unconstitutional justified not filing tax returns.

The judge said the jurors needed to use their collective experience to decide if Street truly believed his testimony about the validity of the tax code: "The law protects those who are ignorant of the law or who misunderstand the law but that is not someone who simply disagrees with the law."

The alleged fraud, prosecution witnesses testified, involved Street's and Velardi's attempt to assign an airport subcontract to Thanh Nguyen and his V-Tech Services Inc. to recoup money Street owed Velardi's employer, Philadelphia Airport Services.

Prosecutors allege that the rights to the subcontract between PAS and Street's Notlim Inc. were not Street's to sell because the deal was voided by airport officials earlier in 2003 after Mayor John Street ordered his older brother to withdraw because the deal seemed inappropriate. Prosecutors say the ex-mayor was not involved in his brother's alleged crimes.

Nguyen testified on Feb. 11 that after he paid Street $80,000, the subcontract assignment kept getting postponed and Street and Velardi stopped returning his calls.

Street testified that he never promised Nguyen the deal was certain and that it was Nguyen's idea to give him a good-faith deposit of cash. Street called Nguyen and prosecution witnesses liars.

Velardi did not testify, but his lawyer described him as a pawn between Street's scheming and Nguyen's desperate efforts to win a city contract.

[Imalawman]

Man, it looks like its getting harder and harder to criminally convict on tax fraud charges or tax charges generally. Demo, have any idea why this is becoming a trend?

[Demosthenes]

Posted on Fri, Feb. 22, 2008

Milton Street verdict is mixed
By Joseph A. Gambardello

Inquirer Staff Writer

The jury in the federal trial of T. Milton Street Sr. rendered its verdict today, convicting him of three counts of tax evasion for failing to file returns in 2002, 2003 and 2004; acquitting him on four counts of mail and wire fraud; and deadlocking on two charges that he filed false returns in 2000 and 2001.

Codefendant John H. Velardi Sr. was acquitted on three counts of wire and mail fraud.

The jury, which was drawn from nine counties, as far west as Lancaster and as far north as the Lehigh Valley, deliberated for nearly three days.

Street, the brother of former Philadelphia mayor John Street, sat stone-faced as the verdicts were read.

Under sentencing guidelines, Street faces 27 to 33 months in prison.

[Demosthenes]

Man, it looks like its getting harder and harder to criminally convict on tax fraud charges or tax charges generally. Demo, have any idea why this is becoming a trend?

When I was watching the Snipes trial, I sat some of the time with a retired local woman who had been excused from the jury pool, but who wanted to watch the trial anyway. When it came time for the jury to go deliberate, I asked her how she would have voted had she made it to the jury. Her eyes got moist and crinkled up and she said, "I don't want him to go to jail."

I think that Justice is having a really hard time right now on felony tax charges, but not misdemeanor charges, because jurors erroneously think that felony = time in prison, but misdemeanor = hand slap and big fine.

Jurors live the same world as tax cheats. They're angry at the government, sickened by the national debt, and disgusted by the complexity and unfairness of the tax code.

Ironically, this potential juror was excused because of an answer she gave to a race question.

[Demosthenes]

I also think that the Cheek definition of "willful" has become a big weakness in the DOJ's cases.

Unfortunately, my window of opportunity to add a reasonableness factor to the willfulness element has passed. I set up a perfect shot for the DOJ in 2006, a guaranteed slam dunk set up, and they walked away.

[Demosthenes]

Posted on Fri, Sep. 26, 2008

T. Milton Street ordered to prison, pay back taxes
By Emilie Lounsberry

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

T. Milton Street Sr. was sentenced to 30 months in prison for failing to file tax returns for three years.

U.S. District Judge Legrome Davis also ordered Street to pay $413,000 in back taxes.

He was immediately taken into custody.

Street, 69, the older brother of former Mayor John Street, appeared stoic as Davis imposed the sentence. He then surrendered his watch, tie and other personal belongings before he was led off in handcuffs.

Federal prosecutors had asked Davis to order Street's sentence to start immediately.

"This is his day of judgment, and I would suggest to the court it's time for him to go," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony J. Wzorek at the end of a nearly five-hour sentencing hearing in Philadelphia.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams called the 30-month term "an appropriately serious sentence for serious criminal conduct."

The former state senator and hot-dog vendor was found guilty in February of the tax charges, but acquitted of mail fraud and wire fraud in an alleged scheme to sell an airport maintenance contract.

[lastlady]

Maybe someday they will tax us at 80-90% and we can really be good slaves. Oh won't you'll all be so happy then. Something for your children and grandchildren to look forward to. Aren't you proud. So nice of us all to give our hard earned money away to a corrupt and dishonest government that kills and spends like crazy. Aren't you so proud, good slaves...

Maybe you hope that they will take everything from you and you can live in your socialist communist wet dream.. Sounds just lovely!

[lastlady]

Oh but it will all be legal, says so right here in this book!

[Demosthenes]

Maybe someday they will tax us at 80-90% and we can really be good slaves.

That's what the top tax bracket was in the pre-Reagan years.

I'm one of the people in the top tax bracket. Paying taxes suck, but that doesn't change the meaning of the words in Section 1 of the Internal Revenue Code.

The answer is political. The answer is not following a violent racist blowhard named Ed into prison.

I first registered with the Libertarian Party in the mid 1980s. How about you, Last Lady?

[Judge Roy Bean]

Maybe someday they will tax us at 80-90% and we can really be good slaves. Oh won't you'll all be so happy then. Something for your children and grandchildren to look forward to. Aren't you proud. So nice of us all to give our hard earned money away to a corrupt and dishonest government that kills and spends like crazy. Aren't you so proud, good slaves...

Maybe you hope that they will take everything from you and you can live in your socialist communist wet dream.. Sounds just lovely!

Many people, including you possibly, are (or will be) net benefit recipients as opposed to net tax payers. In other words, you get/use more than you put in.

Chances are, one trip through a government-funded medical facility for a major illness and you've had more spent on you than you've paid in taxes. And that happens to a lot of people.

[Nikki]

24 hours advanced warning of a killer hurricane is a perfectly adequate return on my tax dollars.

[grixit]

I like roads. And public education.

[Mr. Mephistopheles]

I like roads. And public education.

I like the CDC. Maybe, with additional funding they can discover the CT virus that causes tax whiners and other brands of ct'ists to disassociate themselves from reality. Fire departments and police are pretty cool features in society too. The same goes for the FAA keeping those flying buses from flying into each other or the ground.

[Leftcoaster]

And a big, big shout out to the military, without whom Europe would be speaking Russian, and large swaths of Asia would be speaking Japanese.

Edited for clarity.

[DarkestBeforeDawn]

As a taxpayer myself, I would like to thank all other taxpayers for the medical care both my mother and father received during their lives. It made mom's fatal fight with scleroderma a lot easier. It also meant that any and all medical expenses incurred by dad when he was killed was covered 100%.

Bonus - my dad paid his share by working up to age 75, with a second career as long as his first in the USMC.

Thank you America, from a career Marine, his wife and son. Semper Fi

I am sorry for your loses, I am glad it helped them. However, there is a consequence for Medicare and other unfunded/funded government programs. They are not being paid for, nobody has ever paid their fair share(whatever that may mean). Medicare is $50-70 Trillion in the hole and one Federal Reserve member put the figure at $90 Trillion. As far as medical government programs outside of Medicare I don't think the government has even an estimate that I have seen on that. Most will be negative and unpayable.

Unfortunately your kids will not get the same treatment nor you or your wife. There will be a price to be paid for what has occurred ie consequences.

Again, sorry for your loses.

http://mwhodges.home.att.net/nat-debt/d ... tm#summary
A good resource of debt.

[Leftcoaster]

And a big, big shout out to the military, without whom Europe would be speaking German (not Russian), and large swaths of Asia would be speaking Japanese.

Edited for clarity.

Edited for correctness - Without US involvement and the early collapse of the UK, Nazi Germany would have run from the Ural Mountains to the Atlantic and frim the North Sea to the Med.

If that were true, then the Battle of Moscow would have gone the other way n'est pas?
Nevertheless, this derails us from the original argument. Which is that that the things that a society needs have to be paid for somehow.

[buck09]

I like roads. And public education.

I like the CDC.

I like the FDA, FTC and NIST quite a bit.

Incidentally, if given the option, do you think these idiot's objections over taxation would go away if they could earmark their income for ICE to keep those furningers out of the country?