Sunday, December 27, 2009
The Sixth Circuit has upheld a 10-year prison sentence of a company official who employed numerous undocumented workers, paid them in cash and failed to withhold federal income tax, Medicare or social security from their paychecks. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and to harboring more than 100 undocumented workers, but not before trying to expatriate his assets and flee the country. All told, the company shortchanged the IRS out of upwards of $16 million. One hundred twenty months represented the statutory maximum sentence possible after the trial court imposed its sentence on the two counts consecutively. The sentence was within the Federal Sentencing Guidelines range, so it is presumed reasonable, and a review of the sentencing transcript showed that the trial judge considered the official's mitigation arguments (i.e., his age, criminal history, health, family ties and health of son and cooperation with the federal government), so the trial judge's explanations were neither arbitrary nor unreasonable, determined the circuit court. United States v Rosenbaum, ___F.3d___(6th Cir. November 3, 2009).
Mitchell H. Rubinstein