Roger Menner

[aprilinva]

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
Richmond Division
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v
ROGER CHARLES MENNER

Criminal Action No. 3:08CR322

NOTICE OF CONTEMPLATED UPWARD DEPARTURE OR VARIANCE

Regarding the sentencing hearing of Defendant Roger Charles Menner scheduled
for February 20, 2009 at 10:30 a.m., the parties are hereby on notice that the Court is
considering imposing an upward departure or variance from the otherwise applicable
guideline range established in this case. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 32(h). This potential
departure or variance is based on the need for deterrence and is intended to promote
Defendant's respect for the law. See 18 U.S.C. 3553(a).
The parties are so NOTIFIED.
The Clerk is directed to send a copy of this Notice to all counsel of record.
/s/
Henry E. Hudson
United States District Judge
Date: Jan 28, 2009
Richmond, VA

[Demosthenes]

Oh dear. Roger is toast, if the Judge is saying this prior to either side submitting their sentencing memos.

[jkeeb]

From the friends of Robert Menner site:

John J. Bulten said: September 3rd, 2008 12:33 pm
Roger, you have our prayers. Though it tarry, justice will prevail. Looking forward to reading the case.

[Nikki]

John J. Bulten said: September 3rd, 2008 12:33 pm
Roger, you have our prayers. Though it tarry, justice will prevail. Looking forward to reading the case.

Count the days, John. Count the days.

[Dr. Caligari]

Old joke:
A young lawyer returns to the office after his first trial. The senior partner asks him, "what happened?"

The young lawyer says, "justice was done."

The partner responds, "better file an appeal immediately."

[The Operative]

So, anyone care to guess how Menner's sentencing might affect Pete's sentencing if he gets convicted?

[Demosthenes]

So, anyone care to guess how Menner's sentencing might affect Pete's sentencing if he gets convicted?

How would it be relevant?

[The Operative]

So, anyone care to guess how Menner's sentencing might affect Pete's sentencing if he gets convicted?

How would it be relevant?

This (referring to my post) is an uneducated query from someone who has little training in law and practically none in judicial proceedings. I was wondering that if Pete is convicted and the sentence in Menner's case is an upward departure, would it be possible or likely that the government would request an upward departure in Pete's case and refer to the results of Menner's as part of their request? Menner claims to have used CtC and IIRC, it was referenced in his case. The government has already made a reference to Menner in a response to a motion in Pete's case.

[Demosthenes]

Different judges in different districts with different circumstances. I don't think Menner's sentence will have any bearing on Pete's. Menner was a tax protester long before Pete hit the guru scene.

By way of background, Menner was convicted on five counts of willful failure to file in 1998 (tax years 1991-1995), and was sentenced to 15 months in the pokey. He got out of federal prison in 2000, violated the terms of his release and was sent back to prison until late 2000.

In 2008, he was indicted and convicted on five counts of filing false returns (tax years 2001 -2005) and one count of obstructing the IRS (tax years 1991-1995, the tax years he'd done time for).

Obviously, a 15 month sentence didn't have much effect on Menner, so the judge is going to slap him hard this time.

Some judge's are tough (Simkanin's judge, for example), some are lenient (the DC detective's judge. Some are flippant about papercut crimes, some are coming to the realization that TPs don't learn from lax sentences.

[Demosthenes]

I was wondering that if Pete is convicted and the sentence in Menner's case is an upward departure, would it be possible or likely that the government would request an upward departure in Pete's case and refer to the results of Menner's as part of their request?

I would bet that the DOJ has at least a couple of TPs (not Menner) lined up to testify that Pete's scam has ruined their lives. Consider the people who were jointly sued with Pete in the civil case and who had to repay all of their refunds plus interest and penalties. I bet they'll be more than happy to testify against Pete in exchange for immunity from criminal prosecution.

It's important to remember that Pete hasn't been indicted for being a guru; he's only facing 10 counts of filing false documents with the IRS. I think the DOJ can get the victim testimony in, however, as proof that Hendrickson had ample notice that what he was preaching didn't work.

[aprilinva]

The government officially recommended 70 to 87 months today. Based on Judge Hudson's recent notice that he was inclined to make an upward departure from the guidelines, I think it is safe to say Roger will be sentenced to 5 to 7 years on February 20th.

[Famspear]

The government officially recommended 70 to 87 months today. Based on Judge Hudson's recent notice that he was inclined to make an upward departure from the guidelines, I think it is safe to say Roger will be sentenced to 5 to 7 years on February 20th.

So, if he receives, say, a 70 month sentence, I think that would mean he would have to serve a minimum of about 59 or 60 months, assuming good behavior. Someone else here who is more knowledgeable about the federal guidelines may provide more insight.....

[Famspear]

Roger Charles Menner is asking that the Court impose a sentence of probation (docket entry 70 on Feb. 18, 2009).

The government filed a response to that today (Thursday, Feb. 19).

Sentencing set for Friday, Feb. 20, 2009, at 10:30 am (Eastern time).

[aprilinva]

Roger Menner was sentenced to 63 months this morning. The government asked for 70 to 87 months, while defense counsel asked for one year of probation.

[Famspear]

The February 20, 2009 judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (case 3:08CR00322-001) was docketed on February 24th. As noted above, Roger Charles Menner was sentenced to 63 months in prison, consisting of 30 months concurrently for each of the first five counts (under 26 USC 7206, filing a false return) and 33 months for the sixth count (which was 26 USC 7212, obstructing and impeding administration), with the 33 months to run consecutively AFTER the 30 months under the first five counts -- for a total of 63 months.

Menner is required to cooperate fully with the Internal Revenue Service and the Virginia Department of Taxation in collection of taxes, penalties, and interest on his tax liability, and to file any amended or delinquent returns requested by those agencies.

The Court imposed assessments of $600, but no criminal fines or restitution. Menner was ordered to be remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal for commitment to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

EDIT: The Court also ordered a medical evaluation (whatever that means).

[Famspear]

Incidentally, Justice Department attorney Mark F. Daly, who was involved in the Menner case, is also involved with Peter Hendrickson's prosecution.

[aprilinva]

The Court ordered the medical evaluation because in Menner's pre-sentencing memorandum he cited "life long asthma" and a vague heart ailment as reasons he should not be incarcerated. He also complained about the poor nutrition in his current facility.

[Famspear]

Since Roger Charles Menner claimed to have been a user of Cracking the Code by Pete Hendrickson, it may be useful to review how Menner was treated at losthorizons. Here is Menner, writing as “RogerX415”, at losthorizons in July of 2007:

I wanted to let everyone on this site know that I received a letter from the IRS stating that they intend to prosecute me for violations of 26 UCS 7201 (Tax Evasion) and 26 USC 7206(1) (subscribing to false federal income tax returns). The years in question are all years where I filed returns following the outline in CTC and the law as it is laid out in the book, statutes and regulations.

This is no joke and please don't wonder if I missed a period on one of the returns. This may be the first criminal attempt against CTC and if I go down everyone on this forum who has done similar, getting money back or not, will be next in line. I have been emailing Pete about this over the last year and and today, he has responded but I have not heard from him today. If you can, let him know to contact me and if someone has his phone number please forward that. If anybody knows who the best Lawyer is for this let me know. I retained Mark Lane of WTP for letters and phone calls earlier, but I am not sure he understands CTC.

My investigation started over a year ago and it has now come to this letter where they want to meet in 2 weeks. I do have a past history for some of the years but not all.

What I want to know from this forum is if I can count on you for support both moral and financial as I/we will need the best criminal lawyer there is to kill this case at the meeting or win at trial. If you are willing to help me then email me at: [email address redacted] and put "Support" in the subject line. If you can pledge financial support that would be great I will get back to you when I have a defense fund setup. If you can only give moral support that will be appreciated also. This is a battle for all of us and right now I am a lone warrior. Let me know that you are behind me and will help do what it takes for all of us to win.

--at losthorizons, on July 10, 2007.

John J. Bulten responded with this:

Welcome, Roger, thanks for your news. Our moral support is and will be dependable. (Financial support if any, of course, should be discussed privately.)

Previous comments at losthorizons about Roger Charles Menner:

[ . . . . ]many of you have heard of the indictment of Roger Menner for several tax crimes: he's a fellow CTC practitioner. He's currently gone thru the arraignment phase and is due for an Oct 20 trial. He needs our support, spiritually, morally, and financially. Whatever other methods he may have used prior to CTC, of which I have no knowledge other than those cited in Pete's newsletter last month, he reports that his returns of late have indeed been of the CTC variety. Therefore, any success his prosecution enjoys will be a loss for all of us, and that's the reason we need to come to his aid.

--“Bill G, “ as quoted by losthorizons user Submarine Veteran, on Sept. 3, 2008, from the thread entitled “Roger Menner Defense Fund.”

Submarine Veteran himself wrote:

We need to help this guy till it hurts and we need to make sure that we closely track the happenings and support him with the collective analysis capability of this entire group.

Regarding Roger Menner’s case, user hughg wrote:

Wow-interesting. 5 counts of submitting a false return. 5 counts of him submitting evidence under penalties of perjury to the best of his knowledge and belief. I think the gov might have a hard time with this.

--user hughg, Sept. 3, 2008

User “continentalarmy” wrote:

If we could all get together on this thing, it would be so much more effective. SV, I agree however that Roger appears to be going down a flimsy path. I don't know Roger. My financial contribution is essentially one for Pete. I don't want to see Roger get convicted, but I don't want to see CtC get convicted either in the IRS' typical way of spinning the truth. The money is in defense of the truth. I hope Stilley [Oscar Stilley, the disgraced attorney currently the subject of disbarment proceedings in Arkansas] is on the ball!

--user continentalarmy, on Sept. 3, 2008.

Some users did state that they sent money to Menner.

In September 2008, Blowhard Hendrickson deleted essentially all prior postings in the thread entitled “Roger Menner Defense Fund” -- including the appeals by his Crackheads for donations to Menner and the statements associating Menner with CtC -- and posted an explanation claiming that Menner’s returns had not been "of the CtC variety" (which may or may not have been the case). Pete was clearly trying to distance himself from what Pete apparently saw as a losing cause. See:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3000

Pete's tactic may have worked; so far, I have seen not a peep out of any of the losthorizons people regarding Menner's sentencing on February 20th. I seems that once Pete deleted the "offending" posts and gave the implied signal that Menner should be cut loose, Hendrickson's Heroes dutifully "forgot" about Menner.

[Dezcad]

I thought that any loss is actually a statement that CTC is right. Isn't that what Mooney says? So, in effect, the loss by Menner is just another in an "unending series of real-world, actual events" that validate CTC. The LHers should be happy.

[Arthur Rubin]

... no criminal fines or restitution.

Victory!