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FAMM does not argue that crime should go unpunished - but the punishment must fit the crime.

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By Ken Ritter
ASSOCIATED PRESS

3:42 p.m. February 24, 2006

LAS VEGAS – Anti-tax crusader and author Irwin Schiff was sentenced Friday to more than 13 years in federal prison for advising people that no U.S. law required them to pay income tax.
Schiff, 78, remained defiant, declaring his innocence and accusing what he called a “fascist” government of stifling the truth. His lawyer pleaded for leniency, arguing that Schiff was mentally ill.


U.S. District Court Judge Kent Dawson said he was convinced Schiff knew what he was doing when he cast a “calculated and strategic” net using radio shows, seminars and advertisements to induce customers to buy his books and tax advice.
“It was a search for riches, and he had full control over his facilities, at least for the purpose of the violations that occurred,” the judge said.

Federal prosecutors had estimated 4,000 people filed so-called “zero” tax returns that Schiff espoused, costing the federal treasury about $57 million since 1999.

Dawson recalled Schiff's earlier boast from the witness stand that he helped thousands of followers avoid paying $2 billion in taxes, and used it against him.

“Thousands of tax returns; millions and maybe billions of dollars lost,” the judge said, branding Schiff and his Las Vegas company, Freedom Books, “a flimflam operation” that encouraged others to engage in a fraudulent tax evasion scheme.

“He took their money and left them holding the bag,” the judge said. “Of all those who have participated in this scheme, only he made money. He made lots of money.”

The judge picked the harshest sentence recommended in a federal pretrial report, 151 months, and added 12 months for contempt of court after ruling that Schiff improperly tried to influence the jury while serving as his own lawyer at trial.

Schiff was sanctioned 15 times during the five-week trial for what the judge called “false statements concerning the law to the jury.”

Schiff was unbowed Friday.

“There is no law that made me liable. There is no law that required me to pay the tax,” he declared.

The judge also sentenced Schiff to three years probation and ordered him to pay more than $4.2 million in restitution.

He was convicted of 13 conspiracy, tax evasion and tax fraud charges, and could have faced up to 43 years in prison.

The judge noted that Schiff was convicted twice before of failure to file income taxes. He served about four years in prison on a 1986 conviction.

Schiff was represented at sentencing by Chicago-based lawyer Michael Nash, who promised to appeal. Nash said two psychologists and a psychiatrist diagnosed Schiff with suicidal depression, bipolar mental disorder, paranoia and delusions that made him believe paying taxes was voluntary.

Two Schiff associates – Cynthia Neun and Lawrence Cohen – also have been sentenced to prison in the case.

Neun, 52, was sentenced Thursday to 68 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $1.1 million in restitution plus back taxes, interest and penalties. She was found guilty of 15 charges, including tax evasion and helping to file fraudulent tax returns.

Cohen, 65, was sentenced Feb. 3 to 33 months in prison on one conviction for aiding the filing of fraudulent tax returns.

Dawson said Schiff, who has family in New York and Connecticut, could serve his sentence at a federal prison in Danbury, Conn.

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remember how people voted massivly YES on the mdicinal MJ in california?
remember clinton saying fuck you?

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