UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Edward Wesley ROUSH, Jr., Defendant-Appellant.
No. 05-10238.
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.
Oct. 3, 2006.
466 F.3d 380
Finally, in Abney v. Exxon Corp., 98-0911 (La.App. 1st Cir. 9/24/99), 755 So.2d 283, the court of appeal affirmed the trial court‘s finding that the employer committed intentional torts upon four welder employees. The employees testified that they were required to weld sheets of stainless steel to the inside surface of a fractionation tower while being exposed to known human carcinogens without protective equipment. They became ill and eventually were either transferred or quit work because of the working conditions on that particular job. Before doing so, the employees suffered nose bleeds and other symptoms every time they went into the tower, and they informed the employer‘s supervisory personnel of these problems. Ms. Larroquette‘s exposure to the 8 to 12 percent risk of latex reaction or sensitization did not produce any symptoms that either she or her doctors identified as latex related until she experienced her second reaction in 2003, some two years after leaving Touro‘s employ.
CONCLUSION
For these reasons, the judgment of the district court denying the plaintiff‘s motion to remand and dismissing her action, after concluding that the joinder was improper, is AFFIRMED.
Shirley L. Baccus-Lobel (argued), Law Offices of Shirley Baccus-Lobel, Dallas, TX, for Roush.
Before GARZA, PRADO and OWEN, Circuit Judges.
EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judge:
Edward Wesley Roush, Jr. (“Roush“) appeals the below-guidelines sentence imposed after his guilty-plea conviction for tax evasion, in violation of
I
On February 5, 1998, Roush received income in the form of WasteMasters, Inc. stock for legal services he had performed during 1997 and 1998. On September 30, 1998, Roush caused 20,191,500 shares to be issued to six business entities, none of which filed tax returns in 1998. In Roush‘s 1998 tax return, which he filed in 2002, he declared a taxable income of $11,150. He did not report the receipt of the WasteMasters stock, although he did claim charitable contributions on his 1998 and 1999 tax returns for donating over 4 million shares to John Marshall Law School. The government estimated that the value of the stock received in 1998 was approximately $3.4 million and estimated that the corresponding tax loss was approximately $1,148,409. Roush and others were indicted on 47 counts of wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy.1 Roush was also indicted on one count of tax evasion. When he pleaded guilty to tax evasion, the remainder of the charges were dismissed.
The Probation Officer who prepared the Presentence Report (“PSR“) calculated the amount of tax loss for sentencing purposes at $1,148,409, establishing a Base Offense Level of 22. See
The district court ultimately adopted the PSR, specifically noting that it believed that the tax loss calculation in the PSR was correct. However, the district court expressed concerns about the severity of the sentence in light of the fact that the stock was worthless by the end of 1998,2
II
Roush, on appeal, first challenges the district court‘s acceptance of the PSR‘s calculation of the tax loss, the use of the 39.6 percent tax bracket, and the application of the enhancements for failure to report income derived from criminal activity and the use of sophisticated means.
A
Tax loss is “the total amount of loss that was the object of the offense.”
Roush argues, as he did at sentencing, that the tax loss used to deter
Under the Internal Revenue Code, when property is transferred in connection with the performance of services, “the excess of (1) the fair market value of such property (determined without regard to any restriction other than a restriction which by its terms will never lapse) at the first time the rights of the person having the beneficial interest in such property are transferable or are not subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture, whichever occurs earlier, over (2) the amount (if any) paid for such property, shall be included in the gross income of the person who performed such services in the first taxable year ....”
On February 5, 1998 Roush had the right to request immediate issuance of the stock and thus, constructively received the stock. See Arnwine v. C.I.R., 696 F.2d 1102, 1111 (5th Cir. 1983) (“[A] cash basis taxpayer will be deemed to be in constructive receipt of income when it becomes available to him without substantial restrictions.“); see also Reed v. C.I.R., 723 F.2d 138, 142 (1st Cir. 1983) (“[U]nder the constructive receipt doctrine, a taxpayer recognizes taxable income when he has an unqualified, vested right to receive immediate payment.“). Typically, stock is valued on the date the shares are issued. See Champion v. C.I.R., 303 F.2d 887, 891 (5th Cir. 1962) (applying the “well-settled rule that stock received as compensation for services rendered to the issuing corporation is taxable as ordinary income of an amount equal to the value of the stock at the date of issuance“); see also Pledger v. C.I.R., 641 F.2d 287, 291 (5th Cir. 1981) (“[T]he value of [defendant‘s] compensation for purposes of taxation could be determined by reference to the fair market value of the stock on the day of purchase.“). Because Roush took constructive receipt of the stock on February 5, that is the correct date on which to establish valuation. See Wolder v. C.I.R., 493 F.2d 608, 612-13 (2d Cir. 1974) (observing that stock is valued on the date of constructive receipt). The Revenue Ruling cited by Roush in support of his argument that the stock should be valued at the end of 1998 is inapposite as it deals with the rescission of a contract that voided the transfer of property, thus extinguishing all taxable income. See Rev. Rul. 80-58, 1980-1 C.B. 181. Roush‘s argument that the stock should have been valued at the end of the year fails.
Furthermore, the fact that the stock was restricted at all times during 1998 did not render its fair market value
When he purchased the stock, the value of his compensation for purposes of taxation could be determined by reference to the fair market value of the stock on the day of purchase. Although taxpayer argues that the stock subject to the securities restrictions was worth only 65 percent of its fair market value, taxpayer ignores the fact that the stipulation regarding the 65 percent value pertained only to the discounted value if the stock were sold in another private placement sale. A stipulation as to the value of property if sold under certain circumstances does not necessarily reflect the value of the property in the hands of the current owner .... The full value of the stock existed from the moment of purchase; it was only temporarily subject to a diminution in value if exchanged because of the securities restrictions. Despite taxpayer‘s claim to the contrary, there was no nonexistent value upon which he was taxed.
Id. at 291. The court went on to note that the fact that a stock could radically decrease in value after the initial purchase was simply “part of the risk any stockholder encounters when he purchases stock” and concluded that “Congress may constitutionally tax the full fair market value at the time of purchase without regard to the temporary restriction.” Id.
This analysis is instructive. Although Roush‘s shares were restricted, he could in fact sell them; although a restricted stock cannot be sold publically, it can be sold in a private sale. Indeed, Roush reported a sale of 925,122 of the shares on December 6, 1998, valuing them at approximately $0.59 per share. As this court observed in Pledger, the fact that stock is restricted, or even specifically valued for the purposes of private sales at less than the fair market value, does not affect the valuation of the shares for income purposes.7
Therefore, the district court did not clearly err when it used the fair market value of the shares on February 5, 1998 to determine the tax loss.
B
Roush argues that the district court erred in placing him in the 39.6 percent tax bracket when determining the total tax loss. He contends that under the Sentencing Guidelines, “the tax loss shall be treated as equal of 28 percent of the unreported gross income ... unless a more accurate determination of the tax loss can be made.”
Roush‘s brief simply asserts that the 39.6 percent tax bracket is incorrect, but offers no reasons why the use of the 39.6 percent tax bracket constitutes plain error. The probation officer applied the 39.6 percent tax bracket when calculating the total tax loss. A PSR bears sufficient indicia of reliability to considered evidence. United States v. Cothran, 302 F.3d 279, 286 (5th Cir. 2002). In addition, during the sentencing hearing, the IRS analyst also used the 39.6 percent figure. See United States v. Thomas, 12 F.3d 1350, 1372 (5th Cir. 1994) (“Sworn testimony given by a government agent at a sentencing hearing generally bears sufficient indicia of reliability to be considered by the trial judge during sentencing.“); United States v. Aubin, 87 F.3d 141, 150 (5th Cir. 1996) (upholding the tax loss calculation of IRS investigative agents). Roush has offered no rebuttal evidence that the 39.6 percent tax bracket was incorrect and thus, the district court did not plainly err.
C
Roush challenges the two-level enhancement for use of “sophisticated means.” See
When Roush requested the issuance of the WasteMasters stock, he had the shares issued to six companies, which the PSR characterized as “shell companies.” The relevant guidelines commentary notes that “hiding assets or transactions, or both, through the use of fictitious entities, corporate shells, or offshore financial accounts ordinarily indicates sophisticated means.”
D
Roush challenges the two-level enhancement for failure to report income over $10,000 that resulted from criminal activity, in this case, the fraudulent suit against Wastemasters. See
Roush contends that the government failed to adduce evidence that the source of the income was criminal activity. He does not, however, support this argument. Roush thus fails to rebut the PSR‘s finding
Roush also argues for the first time on appeal that this provision violates the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination because it penalizes failure to self-report criminal activity. This argument also fails. The point of the enhancement, as discussed in the Application Notes, is to further deterrence, particularly in light of the chronic under-reporting of criminally-derived income. See
III
In addition to his objections to the PSR, Roush contends that the district court‘s sentence was unreasonable because it was based on an incorrect tax loss value. To support this argument, he reasserts his contention that the stock was valueless by the end of the year. He also argues that it was unreasonable to include the 1999 charitable donations in the calculations because there was no evidence in the record that his 1999 tax returns were falsified.
Here, the calculated guidelines range was 46 to 57 months.8 Roush received a 27-month sentence. The district court expressed its discomfort with the 46 to 57 month guidelines range based on its understanding of the relative worthlessness of the defendant‘s stock at the end of the tax year and, thus, imposed a lower sentence, basing its calculation on the reported charitable deductions for gifts of the stock. The district court stated during sentencing:
It‘s my view that the government is correct with regard to the calculation of income tax. I am going to vary from the Guidelines because I think under
these circumstances, although the tax calculation I believe is correct, given the fact that within the same tax year the stock became essentially worthless, I think that that computation significantly overstates the actual seriousness of the offense here. It may be technically a correct calculation of what the Internal Revenue Code calls for, but I think under the circumstances with regard to the seriousness of the criminal offense, that that‘s just not a fair basis for sentencing ....
I think a more fair representation of the offense would be found by attributing as income the amount of the charitable contributions that was claimed and applying to that a tax rate of 39 percent, which, if done, would result in a two-level decrease of the offense level.
These were the only reasons given by the district court for its decision to deviate downwards.
As mandated by United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), we review a sentence for unreasonableness. United States v. Duhon, 440 F.3d 711, 714 (5th Cir. 2006). Here, the district court deviated from the guidelines, rather than formally departing as permitted by the guidelines. Roush does not argue otherwise. “Before imposing a non-Guideline sentence, a district court must consider the Sentencing Guidelines.” Id. at 715 (citing United States v. Smith, 440 F.3d 704, 707 (5th Cir. 2006), United States v. Mares, 402 F.3d 511, 518-19 (5th Cir. 2005)). According to Duhon, consideration of the guidelines requires that the district court “calculate the appropriate Guideline range” and “articulate fact-specific reasons” for deviating from the guideline range. Duhon, 440 F.3d at 715. In this case, the district court did calculate the appropriate guideline range and did articulate fact-specific reasons for the deviation, namely that the guideline sentence overstates the seriousness of the offense because the stocks were essentially worthless at the end of the tax year.
However, a mere articulation of fact-specific reasons for the deviation is not sufficient to meet the reasonableness standard. Rather, “[t]hose reasons should be ‘consistent with the sentencing factors enumerated in section 3553(a).‘” Id. (citing Smith, 440 F.3d at 707). “A non-Guideline sentence unreasonably fails to reflect the statutory sentencing factors where it 1) does not account for a factor that should have received significant weight, 2) gives significant weight to an irrelevant or improper factor, or 3) represents a clear error of judgment in balancing the sentencing factors.” Smith, 440 F.3d at 707 (applying the framework articulated in United States v. Haack, 403 F.3d 997, 1004 (8th Cir. 2005)).
Based on the explanation the district court provided at the sentencing hearing, this non-guideline sentence gives significant weight to an irrelevant or improper factor and therefore fails. The district court deviated from the guideline sentence because it gave significant weight to the year-end value of the stock. But the year-end value of the stock is not relevant to the crime of tax evasion. The purpose of the tax evasion statute is to punish the tax loss to the government and not to punish the personal enrichment of the defendant. See
The sentencing guidelines further emphasize this policy goal.
A district court‘s determination of the seriousness of the offense under
As a result of this analysis, we agree with Roush that it was improper for the district court to scale Roush‘s sentence to his 1999 charitable contributions. After submitting that the actual tax loss was “not a fair basis for sentencing,” the district court found that the charitable contributions were a “more fair representation of the offense.” Because the district court relied on an improper factor to determine what should be a fair basis for sentencing, namely the year-end stock value, the district court‘s substitution of the charitable contributions is similarly improper.
In holding that the district court gave significant weight to an irrelevant factor, we do not suggest that a non-guideline sentence for tax evasion must be scaled to the tax loss. To do so would improperly limit the district court‘s discretion in sentencing. Further, we do not hold that the seriousness of the offense must be limited to a consideration of the tax loss. A district court may find that other factors enumerated in
Because the district court offered no justification reasonably related to the factors under
DEJA VU OF NASHVILLE, INC., et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE & DAVIDSON COUNTY, Defendant-Appellee.
No. 05-5895.
United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.
Decided and Filed: Oct. 12, 2006.
Rehearing Denied Nov. 3, 2006.
Argued: June 6, 2006.
