Opinion ID: 4843446
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: 2009 Tax Fraud Conviction

Text: We start by emphasizing that Jeune was not indicted in the present case for the conduct we discuss in this section. Nevertheless, because the district court authorized certain uses of and the government relied on the information we summarize below, and because Jeune’s appellate challenges address that circumstance, we review Jeune’s prior tax-preparation problems. Since the early 2000s, Jeune has professionally prepared tax returns in South Florida. Her first tax-preparation business, Accounting Advisors Group, operated out of Miami and Fort Pierce, Florida. In 2005, Accounting Advisors Group was behind the preparation of thirty falsified individual tax returns for the 2004 calendar year. On behalf of their unsuspecting clients, Jeune and her sister Dorothy prepared 1 We take these facts from the evidence adduced at trial, which we view in the light most favorable to the government. See United States v. Calderon, 127 F.3d 1314, 1324 (11th Cir. 1997). 3 USCA11 Case: 19-13018 Date Filed: 08/23/2021 Page: 4 of 65 and submitted individual income-tax returns supported by W-2s with altered withholding amounts and by 1040s with falsified deductions for substantial expenses. They filed these documents to generate larger tax refunds. In 2009, Jeune was indicted on thirty counts of willfully assisting in the preparation of false tax returns in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(2). She pled guilty that same year to one count of the indictment for her willful assistance in the preparation and submission of an individual income-tax return that included a W-2 with falsified wage-withholding amounts. The district court in that case sentenced Jeune to 18 months in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release. It also imposed special conditions on Jeune’s year of supervised release. As relevant here, Jeune had to obtain prior written approval from the court before entering any self-employment, and she could not operate, act as a consultant, or be employed in any tax-preparation-services business. After serving a reduced prison sentence of nine months, Jeune was released from custody, and her term of supervised release ran from February 10, 2010, until February 9, 2011.