U. S. v. GERHARD, GONZALEZ, and RILEY, LEXIS 15784 (1st Cir. 2010)
Gerhard, Gonzalez and Riley were convicted under 18 U.S.C. Sections 3, 371, 372 and 111(a) after actively supporting two convicted tax criminals during a well-publicized, nine-month standoff with federal authorities. On appeal, they raised numerous arguments, including violations of Double Jeopardy, insufficiency of the evidence (Gerhard and Gonzalez argued they were not aware of the crimes the tax criminals were convicted of), and sentencing enhancement errors.
The Section 372 charges focused on preventing an officer from discharging his duties, while the Section 111 and 371 charges focused on interference. Sections 111(a) and 371 required proof of conspiring to use force and at least one defendant acting to achieve the objective. Thus, Double Jeopardy was not violated. Evidence of Gerhard's articles listing the tax criminals' crimes of conviction, and Gonzalez's acknowledged discussions of those convictions with them when he joined their standoff, was sufficient for their Sections 3 and 371 convictions.
The accessory sentences could be up to one-half the tax criminals' maximum (120 months), thus, the 60 and 25- month sentences given were proper under Section 3. Findings that Gerhard conspired to thwart U.S. officers' efforts to arrest the tax criminals warranted using U.S. Sentencing Manual for the Section 372 conviction. Perjury findings independently sufficed to support the obstruction enhancement.
The district court's judgment was affirmed.
- Tax Fraud Report
- The Latest Criminal Tax Decisions, Selected Civil Tax Opinions and Related Economic Crimes.
