Eddie Kahn acolyte faces 16 years

[Nikki]

I wonder how many more of Eddie's clients are still awaiting civil and criminal actions.

Rodney K. Justin, a medical doctor from Woodleaf, N.C., was convicted yesterday of obstructing the internal revenue laws and of failing to file tax returns for several years, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

After trial in Winston-Salem, N.C., a federal jury convicted Justin of four felony counts of corruptly obstructing the administration of the internal revenue laws by sending fake financial instruments called "Bills of Exchange" to the Secretary of the Treasury in Washington, D.C., in purported payment of over $350,000 in taxes.

The jury also convicted Justin of willful failure to file returns for the tax years 2001 through 2004.

According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, Justin had not filed a valid tax return since 1997.

However, Justin earned in excess of $200,000 each year from 2001 through 2004.

Justin sent letters and bogus returns to the IRS advancing false and frivolous tax defier claims purporting to set forth reasons why he was not required to pay taxes.

The IRS repeatedly warned Justin that his positions were frivolous and advised him of his legal duty to file returns and pay taxes.

According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, from 1998 through early 2004, Justin was a client at Guiding Light of God Ministries, also known as American Rights Litigators (ARL), formerly of Mount Dora, Fla.

The evidence showed that Justin purchased the four fictitious "Bills of Exchange" he submitted in purported payment of income taxes from ARL.

Chief Judge James A. Beaty, Jr., scheduled sentencing for Feb. 18, 2010. Justin faces a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1.4 million.

In August 2004, a federal district judge permanently enjoined ARL and two of its promoters from the sale of a nationwide tax scam. In April 2008, a federal court in Florida sentenced two promoters of ARL, as well as ARL client Wesley Snipes, to prison for tax offenses. In September 2008, five promoters of ARL were indicted for tax fraud.

[Pottapaug1938]

And now, we have another example of how someone who has the brains to become a medical professional (or other professional, for that matter) lacks the brains to see through tax denier/defier bulldada....

[Demosthenes]

Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 19, 2010

North Carolina Doctor Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Tax Crimes

WASHINGTON – Rodney K. Justin, a medical doctor from Woodleaf, N.C., was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay over $600,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for obstructing the internal revenue laws and for failing to file tax returns for several years, the Justice Department and IRS announced today. The sentence was imposed by Chief Judge James A. Beaty Jr. in Winston-Salem, N.C.

In 2009, a federal jury convicted Justin of four felony counts of corruptly obstructing the administration of the internal revenue laws by sending fake financial instruments called "Bills of Exchange" to the Secretary of the Treasury in Washington, D.C., in purported payment of over $350,000 in taxes. The jury also convicted Justin of willful failure to file tax returns for the tax years 2001 through 2004.

According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, Justin had not filed a valid tax return since 1997. However, Justin earned in excess of $200,000 each year from 2001 through 2004. Justin sent letters and bogus returns to the IRS advancing false and frivolous tax defier claims purporting to set forth reasons why he was not required to pay taxes. The IRS repeatedly warned Justin that his positions were frivolous and advised him of his legal duty to file returns and pay taxes.

According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, from 1998 through early 2004, Justin was a client at Guiding Light of God Ministries, also known as American Rights Litigators (ARL), formerly of Mount Dora, Fla. The evidence showed that Justin purchased the four fictitious "Bills of Exchange" he submitted in purported payment of income taxes from ARL.
Acting Assistant Attorney General John A. DiCicco of the Justice Department’s Tax Division commended the IRS special agents who investigated the case, as well as Assistant U.S.
Attorney Frank Chut of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina and Tax Division Trial Attorney Jeffrey McLellan, who prosecuted the case.

In August 2004, a federal district judge permanently enjoined ARL and two of its promoters from the sale of a nationwide tax scam. In April 2008, a federal court in Florida sentenced two promoters of ARL, as well as ARL client Wesley Snipes, to prison for tax offenses. In August of 2010, three promoters of ARL were sentenced in the District of Columbia to ten years’ imprisonment each along with ARL founder Eddie Ray Kahn, who received a twenty-year sentence.

More information about the Justice Department's Tax Division and its enforcement efforts is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/ .

[LPC]

Conviction (and sentence) affirmed, United States v. Rodney K. Justin, No. 10-5238 (4th Cir. 10/18/2011).

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
RODNEY K. JUSTIN,
Defendant - Appellant.

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

Appeal from the United States District Court for
the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro.
James A. Beaty, Jr., Chief District Judge.
(1:09-cr-00066-JAB-1)

Submitted: October 4, 2011
Decided: October 18, 2011

Before NIEMEYER, WYNN, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Scott W. Gross, Mt. Clemens, Michigan, for Appellant. Frank P. Cihlar, Gregory Victor Davis, Katie Bagley, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM:

A jury convicted Rodney K. Justin on four counts of willful failure to file income tax returns, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7203 (2006), and four counts of endeavoring to obstruct and impede the due administration of the Internal Revenue Service Code, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7212(a) (2006). The district court denied Justin's Fed. R. Crim. P. 29 motions for judgment of acquittal. On appeal, Justin challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain his convictions. Finding no error, we affirm.

We review de novo the district court's denial of a motion for a judgment of acquittal. United States v. Green, 599 F.3d 360, 367 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 131 S. Ct. 271 (2010). In assessing the sufficiency of the evidence, we "construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, assuming its credibility, and drawing all favorable inferences from it, and will sustain the jury verdict if any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt." United States v. Penniegraft, 641 F.3d 566, 571 (4th Cir. 2011) (citation and emphasis omitted). "Appellate reversal on grounds of insufficient evidence . . . will be confined to cases where the prosecution's failure is clear." Green, 599 F.3d at 367 (internal quotation marks, alteration, and citation omitted). "A defendant challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction bears a heavy burden." United States v. Beidler, 110 F.3d 1064, 1067 (4th Cir. 1997) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

To sustain a conviction for "willfully fail[ing] to . . . make [an income tax] return . . . at the time or times required by law," in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7203, the Government had to establish three elements: "(1) that the defendant was required by law to file a tax return for the year in question, (2) that he failed to timely file such tax return, and (3) that the failure was a willful failure." United States v. Ostendorff, 371 F.2d 729, 730 (4th Cir. 1967); United States v. Bourque, 541 F.2d 290, 293 (1st Cir. 1976). To establish a violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7212(a), the Government had to prove that Justin (1) corruptly (2) endeavored (3) to obstruct or impede the due administration of the IRS Code. United States v. Wilson, 118 F.3d 228, 234 (4th Cir. 1997).

We have reviewed the record of the proceedings below in light of Justin's arguments on appeal and conclude that sufficient evidence clearly supports the jury's verdict. Accordingly, we affirm Justin's convictions and sentence. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED