MN farmer TP sentenced to 2.5 years

[Demosthenes]

Austin-area farmer sentenced for tax evasion
10/9/2008 9:05:40 AM
Comments (0)
By Tim Ruzek
Post-Bulletin, Austin MN

An Austin area man will serve more than two years in federal prison after being convicted for the second time in a decade of evading his federal income taxes.

Kevin J. Morse, unknown age, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul to a 30-month term and one year of supervised release for five counts of filing false tax returns, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office news release.

Morse, who was free on a bail bond, also was convicted in 1999 of filing false returns for the tax years of 1991 to 1994 and served more than a year in prison.

For the recent case, a grand-jury indictment initially was filed in June 2007 against Morse.

A jury then convicted Morse after a five-day trial in late February.

The counts relate to Morse filing false returns for the tax years of 1996 to 2000, when he was a farmer.

Judge Paul Magnuson concluded Morse owed more than $120,000 in taxes for those years, although prosecutors argued the amount was more than $200,000.

Morse's attorney Jordan Kushner, of Minneapolis, requested in court documents for home confinement for Morse, citing several reasons, including Morse's psychological condition impairing his conduct and that he'd be in a better position to pay back the government.

Morse was negatively influenced by a tax-protester movement, Kushner wrote, and he was susceptible to the influence because of his social isolation and psychological disorders.
"(Morse) was clearly a follower rather than a leader in the activities," he stated.

Kushner referred to the people involved in the Freedom and Privacy Committee who encouraged hundreds of others to submit improper claims for tax deductions and refunds.
Prosecutors argued for a tough sentence, saying Morse's 1999 sentence didn't rehabilitate or deter him.

An Internal Revenue Service investigation found that Morse filed returns showing no taxable income or owing taxes for four of the five years between 1996 to 2000, and less than $1,000 in taxes owing for 2000.

Prosecutors presented evidence at trial showing Morse netted more than $680,000 on more than $1 million in revenue from farming, interest and dividends, government farm subsidies and rental of his land to other farmers.

At trial, a tax preparer, who prepared returns for Morse in 2002, testified he calculated Morse would owe more than $100,000 in back taxes, the release says. Instead of filing those returns, Morse filed returns in which he deducted all of his income using an irrelevant section of the tax code, and claimed to owe virtually no taxes.

After the trial, prosecutors said several other men who promoted the deduction Morse used were under indictment and awaiting trial in Oregon.

[Doktor Avalanche]

Wow...he should have gotten out to the city more often.

[Evil Squirrel Overlord]

Austin: Home of Spam.