United States v. Michael Collins, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 13743

Collins, former East St. Louis city councilman and vice-m mayor, left city service in 2002 and moved to suburbs.
He used an East St. Louis address to vote and to establish residency for precinct committeeman, despite not living there.
Investigators found he had not filed federal or state tax returns for nearly two decades.
Indicted on nine counts: tax evasion (three years), willful failure to file (three years), bank fraud, and two voter-fraud counts.
Jury convicted on eight counts; district court imposed a 50-month sentence on each count, to run concurrently.
On appeal, Collins challenges jury instructions, sufficiency of evidence on tax evasion and voter fraud, and tax-loss calculation for sentencing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Willfulness instruction for tax evasion	Collins argues for a supplemental instruction excluding negligence.	Court should rely on pattern instructions; supplemental instruction unnecessary.	No abuse; pattern instructions properly conveyed willfulness; supplemental instruction unnecessary.
Sufficiency of the evidence on tax evasion	Evidence insufficient to prove willful evasion.	Evidence shows affirmative acts to evade taxes beyond mere failure to file.	Evidence sufficient; multiple affirmative acts supported willfulness and evasion.
Voter-fraud residency under Illinois law	Maksym v. Board of Election Commissioners undermines the residency test.	Maksym reaffirmed settled Illinois residency principles.	Maksym does not undermine; evidence supports residency abandonment of Loisel Drive and permanency at Swansea.
Tax-loss calculation for sentencing	Expert's tax-loss calculation should be used.	Government’s conservative Roessler estimate should be used; credibility determinations defer to district court.	District court’s tax-loss finding (about $400,000) upheld; not clearly erroneous.

United States v. Tanner, 628 F.3d 890 (7th Cir. 2010) (abuse-of-discretion standard for jury instructions)
United States v. Smith, 223 F.3d 554 (7th Cir. 2000) (jury instruction adequacy and willfulness concepts)
United States v. Rodriguez-Andrade, 62 F.3d 948 (7th Cir. 1995) (guide on willfulness and pattern instructions)
United States v. Shavin, 320 F.2d 308 (2nd Cir. 1963) (willfulness beyond mere negligence in tax evasion)
United States v. McGill, 953 F.2d 10 (1st Cir. 1992) (willfulness not satisfied by negligence)
United States v. Colacurcio, 514 F.2d 1 (9th Cir. 1975) (instruction on willfulness and evasion)
United States v. Hassebrock, 663 F.3d 906 (7th Cir. 2011) (tax-evasion elements and burden of proof)
United States v. Valenti, 121 F.3d 327 (7th Cir. 1997) (deferral to credibility in tax-loss calculations)
United States v. Whitson, 125 F.3d 1071 (7th Cir. 1997) (guidelines allow reasonable estimates of tax loss)
United States v. King, 126 F.3d 987 (7th Cir. 1997) (elements of tax evasion; affirmative steps to avoid payment)
Schroeder, 536 F.3d 746 (7th Cir. 2008) (standard for calculating tax loss)