White Collar Criminal Defense Group

Third Circuit Denies Appeal In “Tax Free” Conspiracy

On May 1, the Third Circuit issued an opinion upholding the tax fraud conviction of Donald Turner.  United States v. Donald Turner, No. 12-1420 (3d Cir. May 1, 2013). 

Turner, the author of Tax Free!  How the Super Rich Do It!, was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the IRS following a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.  The district court sentenced Turner to 60 months imprisonment and 3 years supervised release.  In addition, applying the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3663 (“MVRA”), the district court ordered Turner to pay $408,043 in restitution, the full amount of the government’s loss, without considering Turner’s ability to pay.

On appeal, Turner argued that the District Court had improperly admitted tape recordings between an undercover IRS agent and another defendant who was also charged with conspiracy to defraud the IRS and foreign bank records which had been seized from the other defendant.  The Third Circuit held that the tape recordings were properly admitted under the co-conspirator exception to hearsay.  The court also held that the government had met its burden of demonstrating that the bank records were authentic and that they fell within the residual exception to hearsay. 

The court finally held that the MVRA applied to the loss attributable to Turner’s conduct, and that the district court did not err in failing to make any findings about Turner’s ability to pay before ordering him to pay $408,043 in restitution.

The full text of the opinion can be found here:  http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/121420p.pdf

A New Initiative Against City Corruption

On April 16, 2013, at the request of District Attorney Seth Williams, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas President Judge Pamela Dembe ordered the empanelment of a new investigating grand jury to be supervised by Judge Gary Glazer.  This order marks the first public notice of District Attorney Williams’ otherwise quiet work on a new initiative to combat public corruption.  Over the last several months, the City’s top law enforcement officer has assembled a team of veteran prosecutors to target this seemingly omnipresent issue in the community.  Historically led by the Commonwealth’s Attorney General and the United States Attorney, the District Attorney will now join in investigating and prosecuting such cases.

District Attorney Williams’ “Special Investigations Unit” consists of seven prosecutors.  The three most recent and notable additions to the team are E. Marc Costanzo, Frank Fina, and Patrick Blessington, all of whom worked in the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.  Fina is well known for his roles in the “Bonusgate,” “Computergate,” and Jerry Sandusky prosecutions.  Williams’ predecessor, Lynne Abraham often referred corruption cases to the state or federal level to avoid potential conflicts of interest.  While District Attorney Williams appreciates the work of those offices, they will no longer be “the only game in town.”  Former Governor, Mayor, and District Attorney Ed Rendell perhaps said it best when he commented on public corruption prosecutions and said, “Sadly, there’s enough to go around.”

For more information, visit http://articles.philly.com/2013-04-28/news/38880260_1_veteran-prosecutors-political-corruption-attorney-general