Source: http://openjurist.org/978/f2d/78
Timestamp: 2016-05-06 09:40:59
Document Index: 529877531

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1291', '§ 3742', '§ 7201', '§ 1510', '§ 3742', '§ 3', '§ 2']

978 F2d 78 United States v. Pollen | OpenJurist
978 F. 2d 78 - United States v. Pollen HomeFederal Reporter, Second Series 978 F.2d.
978 F2d 78 United States v. Pollen 978 F.2d 78
70 A.F.T.R.2d 92-5908, 92-2 USTC P 50,614
UNITED STATES of America,v.William POLLEN, Appellant.
No. 91-5703.
Argued May 7, 1992.Decided Oct. 13, 1992.Rehearing and Rehearing In BancDenied Nov. 10, 1992.
On August 12, 1991, Pollen filed a notice of appeal from this sentencing determination. We have jurisdiction over this appeal from a sentence imposed in a criminal case by virtue of 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a) & (e). Our review of the district court's application and interpretation of the Sentencing Guidelines is plenary. United States v. Murillo, 933 F.2d 195, 197 (3d Cir.1991). Factual findings concerning sentencing issues are subject to clearly erroneous review, and if "a judicial finding involves mixed questions of law and fact, the standard and scope of review takes on greater scrutiny, approaching de novo review as the issue moves from one of strictly fact to one of strictly law." Id. at 198.
Pollen first contends that the four counts to which he pleaded guilty were impermissibly multiplicitous.10 A multiplicitous indictment charges the same offense in two or more counts and may lead to multiple sentences for a single violation, a result prohibited by the Double Jeopardy Clause. See United States v. Stanfa, 685 F.2d 85, 86-87 (3d Cir.1982). The interest protected by the Double Jeopardy Clause in this multiple punishment context is confined to "ensuring that the total punishment did not exceed that authorized by the legislature." Jones v. Thomas, 491 U.S. 376, 381, 109 S.Ct. 2522, 2525, 105 L.Ed.2d 322 (1989). According to Pollen, Counts One, Two, Three, and Five each charge the same offense: evasion of the payment of taxes for the identical group of seven years.11 As a result, Pollen maintains, he has received multiple punishment for the same offense, in violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause.12
United States v. Broce, 488 U.S. 563, 570, 109 S.Ct. 757, 763, 102 L.Ed.2d 927 (1989) (emphasis added). Consequently an accused advised by competent counsel who enters a voluntary and intelligent guilty plea may not bring a collateral Double Jeopardy challenge to the sentences subsequently imposed. Id. at 574, 109 S.Ct. at 765. The Court noted, however, that there is an exception to this rule if the defendant's claim of multiplicity can be proven by reference solely to the indictment and existing record. Id. at 574-76, 109 S.Ct. at 765-66.
Broce thus establishes the principle that a defendant who pleads guilty to a criminal charge may subsequently assert a claim of multiple punishment in violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause "only if the violation is apparent on the face of the indictment or record." Taylor v. Whitley, 933 F.2d 325, 328 (5th Cir.1991) (collateral attack on a guilty plea). See also United States v. Makres, 937 F.2d 1282, 1286 (7th Cir.1991) (same); United States v. Quinones, 906 F.2d 924, 927 (2d Cir.1990) (explaining, in the context of a direct appeal from a guilty plea, that "the test that apparently emerges from Broce seems to turn on whether the claim of Double Jeopardy may be adjudicated on the face of the record or requires supplemental evidence"), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 789, 112 L.Ed.2d 851 (1991); United States v. Montilla, 870 F.2d 549, 552-53 (9th Cir.1989) (applying principle of Broce in a direct constitutional challenge to a guilty plea). If an indictment does not raise Double Jeopardy concerns on its face, and the defendant who has pleaded guilty would only be able to demonstrate a Double Jeopardy violation through an evidentiary hearing, then such claim, whether brought by collateral attack or direct appeal, must be rejected. See Dermota v. United States, 895 F.2d 1324, 1326 (11th Cir.) (collateral attack on guilty plea), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 107, 112 L.Ed.2d 78 (1990); Montilla, 870 F.2d at 552-53 (direct appeal from guilty plea).
Neither party disputes that it would have been proper to charge Pollen, in separate counts, with attempting to evade taxes for each of the seven years specified in his indictment. See, e.g., United States v. Minker, 312 F.2d 632, 636 (3d Cir.1962), cert. denied, 372 U.S. 953, 83 S.Ct. 952, 9 L.Ed.2d 978 (1963). It is also permissible under section 7201 to charge tax evasion covering several years in a single count as a "course of conduct" in circumstances "where the underlying basis of the indictment is an allegedly consistent, long-term pattern of conduct directed at the evasion of taxes for these years." United States v. Shorter, 809 F.2d 54, 58 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 817, 108 S.Ct. 71, 98 L.Ed.2d 35 (1987). Pollen's indictment, however, raises a unique question: whether a defendant can be charged and punished separately for several distinct affirmative acts of evasion committed with regard to taxes owed for the identical set of years.
To adjudge whether the counts of Pollen's indictment properly charge separate offenses we must ascertain the allowable unit of prosecution under the relevant statutory provision, section 7201. See, e.g., United States v. Langford, 946 F.2d 798, 802 (11th Cir.1991), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1562, 118 L.Ed.2d 209 (1992). We have explained that the basic inquiry in this process
Stanfa, 685 F.2d at 87 (quoting United States v. Carter, 576 F.2d 1061, 1064 (3d Cir.1978)). In practice, the second inquiry is usually determinative of the multiplicity question. Id. Accord United States v. Cooper, 966 F.2d 936, 942 (5th Cir.1992) (in determining the allowable unit of prosecution for a statutory provision, the "task is to discern Congress' intent by looking first to the plain language of the statute and then to legislative history and the overall statutory scheme of which it is a part"). Indeed, the Supreme Court has emphasized that "[i]t is Congress, and not the prosecutor, which establishes and defines offenses." Sanabria v. United States, 437 U.S. 54, 69, 98 S.Ct. 2170, 2181, 57 L.Ed.2d 43 (1978). Whether "a particular course of conduct involves one or more distinct 'offenses' under the statute depends on this congressional choice."13 Id. at 70, 98 S.Ct. at 2182.
In this case the offense charged is tax evasion, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7201. To identify the congressionally intended units of prosecution for this offense, we first look to the language of this statute. See Cooper, 966 F.2d at 942; United States v. Song, 934 F.2d 105, 108 (7th Cir.1991). If this language is ambiguous, we will look next to the provision's legislative history. See Song, 934 F.2d at 108. Finally, if the legislative history sheds no light on Congress' intended units of prosecution, we will apply the rule of lenity. See United States v. Marino, 682 F.2d 449, 455 (3d Cir.1982). Under this rule, when ambiguity in a criminal statute cannot be clarified by either its legislative history or inferences drawn from the overall statutory scheme, the ambiguity is resolved in favor of the defendant. Id. (citing Rewis v. United States, 401 U.S. 808, 812, 91 S.Ct. 1056, 1059, 28 L.Ed.2d 493 (1971)).
We cannot agree that Congress intended section 7201's phrase "any tax" to be elevated in importance above the rest of that provision. There is nothing in the language of this section to indicate as much. In fact, when considered in its entirety, the language of section 7201 is straightforward: it prohibits "willful attempts in any manner to evade or defeat any tax." It proscribes "attempts" to evade or defeat any tax and thus speaks in terms of the act of evasion, as well as the taxes evaded. Cf. United States v. Coiro, 922 F.2d 1008, 1014-15 (2d Cir.) (ascertaining the allowable unit of prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 1510(a)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 2826, 115 L.Ed.2d 996 (1991). Indeed, an affirmative act of evasion is an element of a section 7201 violation. See Sansone v. United States, 380 U.S. 343, 351, 85 S.Ct. 1004, 1010, 13 L.Ed.2d 882 (1965) (the elements of a section 7201 violation include willfulness, the existence of a tax deficiency, and an affirmative act constituting an evasion or attempted evasion of the tax). Thus the offense of tax evasion can be completed when a person willfully "attempts in any manner" to evade or defeat income tax. See United States v. McGill, 964 F.2d 222, 230 (3d Cir.1992) (the offense of tax evasion "is complete when a single willful act of evasion has occurred"); United States v. Kirkman, 755 F.Supp. 304, 306 (D.Idaho 1991) (concluding, for statute of limitations purposes, that tax evasion is not a continuing offense). See also Norwitt v. United States, 195 F.2d 127, 133-34 (9th Cir.) (tax evasion is not a continuing offense), cert. denied, 344 U.S. 817, 73 S.Ct. 11, 97 L.Ed. 635 (1952). The plain language of this section, therefore, evinces the congressional intent to allow distinct, significant, affirmative acts of tax evasion to constitute separate section 7201 offenses.14
Pollen next contends that the district court erred in calculating the sentence imposed for Count Five,20 the only count governed by the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Chapter 3, Part B of the Sentencing Guidelines permits a sentencing court to adjust a defendant's offense level in relation to the role that defendant played in committing the offense in order to reflect the defendant's culpability.21 See U.S.S.G. Ch. 3, Pt. (Introductory Commentary); United States v. Murillo, 933 F.2d 195, 198 (3d Cir.1991). Section 3B1.1 instructs the court to increase the offense level if a defendant was an "organizer," "leader," "manager," or "supervisor" in an offense.22 In calculating Pollen's Count Five sentence, the district court increased the offense level by four levels pursuant to section 3B1.1(a) to reflect what it deemed to be Pollen's aggravating role in that offense. In doing so, the court explained that it found by a preponderance of the evidence that at least five individuals knew of Pollen's attempted tax evasion, and that "the evidence clearly shows that these people would not have been where they were for the purpose of attempting to retrieve secreted items unless in fact they were, as the government contends, orchestrated by the defendant."
Relying on our decision in United States v. Murillo, 933 F.2d 195 (3d Cir.1991), Pollen now argues that this four-level increase was in error: in making this offense-level adjustment the district court improperly considered all of his "relevant conduct," as that phrase is defined by the Guidelines, rather than only conduct directly relating to the specific offense of conviction charged in Count Five.23 Had the district court properly limited its section 3B1.1 inquiry to conduct relating to the offense charged in that count, Pollen maintains, the court could not have concluded that he orchestrated at least five participants in criminal activity in connection with that offense.
Pollen, however, did not raise this objection to the calculation of his offense level at sentencing and therefore failed to preserve this issue properly for appeal. As a consequence, we review the matter only to assure that "plain error" was not committed. See, e.g., Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b); United States v. Gonzalez, 918 F.2d 1129, 1138 (3d Cir.1990) (reviewing sentencing calculations for plain error), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 1015, 112 L.Ed.2d 1097 (1991); United States v. Castro, 776 F.2d 1118, 1128 (3d Cir.1985) (objection to jury instruction that is not preserved will be reviewed for plain error), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1029, 106 S.Ct. 1233, 89 L.Ed.2d 342 (1986). Under this standard, we are "concerned only with errors that seriously affect substantial rights or compromise the fairness of the proceedings." United States v. Martinez-Zayas, 857 F.2d 122, 134 (3d Cir.1988). See also United States v. Schreiber, 599 F.2d 534, 539 (3d Cir.) (Seitz, J. concurring) (explaining that "[t]he price an appellant pays for his failure to object is a heavier burden of persuasion. He must show that the error was plain"), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 843, 100 S.Ct. 86, 62 L.Ed.2d 56 (1979).
We cannot agree. The district court clearly failed to examine the evidence concerning Pollen's leadership role specifically in connection with the offense charged in Count Five. Absent this appropriate analysis, we are unwilling to assume that the sentencing court would have found appropriate a two-level adjustment for Pollen's role in the offense pursuant to section 3B1.1(c). Furthermore, we decline to engage in the type of speculation urged by the government concerning whether the district court would have made an upward departure from a properly calculated Guideline sentence range. See 18 U.S.C. § 3742(f)(1).25 We are dealing here with an egregious case of tax evasion. However, speculation on our part as to whether the district court would determine that Pollen's outrageous conduct warranted an upward departure is inappropriate in light of the fact that a sentencing court's decision to depart or not from the Guidelines is inherently discretionary and is not subject to appellate review. See United States v. Colon, 884 F.2d 1550, 1554-56 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 998, 110 S.Ct. 553, 107 L.Ed.2d 550 (1989); United States v. Denardi, 892 F.2d 269, 272 (3d Cir.1989) (approving the Colon analysis). The improper four-level increase in Pollen's offense level resulted in a Guideline sentence range of 57-71 months, rather than the 46-57 month range if a two level increase had been imposed under § 3B1.1(c) or the 37-46 month range if there had been no upward adjustment for a leadership role. Where, as here, there is such a discrepancy between the sentence imposed and the correct sentencing range that the district court may ultimately find, we will not assume that such an error was harmless.
Finally, we also reject the government's contention that the miscalculation did not amount to a manifest injustice. The fact that the Guidelines were later amended has no bearing on the calculation of Pollen's Count Five sentence. If the Sentencing Guideline in effect at the time an offense is committed is more favorable to a defendant, it must be applied. See United States v. Chasmer, 952 F.2d 50, 52 (3d Cir.1991), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1703, 118 L.Ed.2d 412 (1992). The district court's improper calculation of Pollen's offense level, resulting in a significantly higher Guideline sentencing range, certainly is an error that seriously affected Pollen's substantial rights, and so amounts to plain error. Accord United States v. Plaza-Garcia, 914 F.2d 345, 348 (1st Cir.1990) (finding plain error where government conceded on appeal that Sentencing Guideline calculations were erroneous). Consequently, we will vacate Pollen's sentence on Count Five, and remand to the district court for further sentencing proceedings in light of this decision and our opinion in Murillo.
It is well settled that, with regard to pre-Guideline counts, "the district court has virtually unfettered discretion in imposing a sentence if it falls within the statutory limits." United States v. Matthews, 773 F.2d 48, 52 (3d Cir.1985). In keeping with this discretion, our review of such a sentence is extremely circumscribed: if the sentence falls within the statutory maximum it is not reviewable on appeal unless there is a showing of illegality or abuse of discretion. United States v. Fischbach & Moore, Inc., 750 F.2d 1183, 1188 (3d Cir.1984), cert. denied, 470 U.S. 1029, 105 S.Ct. 1397, 84 L.Ed.2d 785 (1985).
With regard to offenses committed before the effective date of the Sentencing Guidelines but sentenced after that date, we have stated that "the preexisting law will apply to all substantive matters including the imposable sentence." United States v. Sussman, 900 F.2d 22, 24 (3d Cir.1990) (quoting S.Rep. No. 225, 98th Cong., 2d Sess. (1983), reprinted in 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3182, 3372). Further, the fact that a defendant is also convicted of Guidelines offenses does not affect a sentencing court's discretion in sentencing on the pre-Guidelines counts. Accord United States v. Lincoln, 925 F.2d 255, 257 (8th Cir.) ("it is not an abuse of discretion to impose consecutive sentences when a defendant stands convicted of related pre-Guidelines and Guidelines offenses--even if the Guidelines would mandate concurrent sentences if both offenses were subject to them"), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 2838, 115 L.Ed.2d 1006 (1991); United States v. Watford, 894 F.2d 665 (4th Cir.1990) (same); United States v. Garcia, 903 F.2d 1022 (5th Cir.) (same), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 364, 112 L.Ed.2d 327 (1990). Thus Pollen's assertion that his one Guideline count of tax evasion has some limiting effect on the district court's discretion to impose consecutive sentences for his pre-Guideline counts fails.
The government asserts that because the district court imposed concurrent sentences on Counts One, Two and Three, we need not decide whether Count Three is multiplicitous of Counts One and Two. Under the concurrent sentence doctrine, we have discretion to decline to resolve legal issues affecting less than all counts in an indictment if at least one count can be upheld and the sentences imposed run concurrently. See United States v. American Investors of Pittsburgh, Inc., 879 F.2d 1087, 1100 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 955, 110 S.Ct. 368, 107 L.Ed.2d 354 (1989). This doctrine is generally not invoked if it is possible that the defendant may suffer collateral consequences, such as impaired parole eligibility. Id
Pollen correctly acknowledges that as a consequence of his guilty plea, he cannot attack the validity of the indictment per se, but instead is limited to challenging the constitutionality of his sentences under the Double Jeopardy Clause. Cf. United States v. Bonavia, 927 F.2d 565, 571 (11th Cir.1991) (defendant who fails to object to multiplicitous counts in indictment before trial is barred from challenging indictment on appeal); United States v. Mastrangelo, 733 F.2d 793, 800 (11th Cir.1984) (same)
In fact, "[f]ew, if any, limitations are imposed by the Double Jeopardy Clause on the legislative power to define offenses." Id
Because we conclude that section 7201 is not ambiguous, we have no need to resort to the rule of lenity. That rule is applicable "only after it is determined that a criminal statute is ambiguous, not at the beginning of the process of construction 'as an overriding consideration of being lenient to wrongdoers.' " United States v. Rodriguez, 961 F.2d 1089, 1093-94 (3d Cir.1992) (quoting Chapman v. United States, --- U.S. ----, ----, 111 S.Ct. 1919, 1926, 114 L.Ed.2d 524 (1991))
The Supreme Court has described section 7201 as including "the offense of willfully attempting to evade or defeat the assessment of tax as well as the offense of willfully attempting to evade or defeat the payment of a tax." Sansone v. United States, 380 U.S. 343, 354, 85 S.Ct. 1004, 1011, 13 L.Ed.2d 882 (1965) (emphasis in original). This language has been interpreted as indicating that section 7201 proscribes the offense of tax evasion, which can be committed either by evading the assessment or evading the payment of taxes. See, e.g., McGill, 964 F.2d at 230; United States v. Mal, 942 F.2d 682, 686-87 (9th Cir.1991); United States v. Dunkel, 900 F.2d 105, 107-08 (7th Cir.1990)
We note also that our holding is not the equivalent of concluding that, as a consequence of section 7201's phrase "in any manner," each manner of tax evasion amounts to a separate unit of prosecution. This court has previously acknowledged the fact that the term "any," when used in a statutory definition of a unit of prosecution, fails to define unambiguously the unit of prosecution in singular terms. See United States v. Marino, 682 F.2d 449, 454 & n. 5 (3d Cir.1982). See also United States v. Coiro, 922 F.2d 1008, 1014 (2d Cir.) ("the word "any" has typically been found ambiguous in connection with the allowable unit of prosecution") (quotation omitted), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 2826, 115 L.Ed.2d 996 (1991)
Unless otherwise indicated, all references to the Sentencing Guidelines in this opinion will be those in effect on August 22, 1990, the date of the offense charged in Count Five, as these are the Guidelines that must be applied. See United States v. Chasmer, 952 F.2d 50, 52 (3d Cir.1991) (if Guidelines in effect on date of offense are more favorable to the defendant, they must be applied), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1703, 118 L.Ed.2d 412 (1992)
We pause to accept the Sentencing Commission's longstanding invitation to express our view on the efficacy and propriety of particular Guidelines. See, e.g., United States v. Parson, 955 F.2d 858, 874 (3d Cir.1992). Guideline section 2T1.1, Application Note 2, provides that for the purposes of imposing sentence for violations of section 7201, the tax loss considered cannot include interest or penalties. See U.S.S.G. § 2T1.1. While such a limitation may be appropriate in an evasion of assessment case, it is not always so when imposing sentence for tax evasion committed through the evasion of payment