United States v. Hagan
Decision Date | 19 November 1969 |
Docket Number | Crim. No. 27960. |
Citation | 306 F. Supp. 620 |
Parties | UNITED STATES of America v. Harold B. HAGAN. |
Court | U.S. District Court — District of Maryland |
Stephen H. Sachs, U. S. Atty., Donald E. Sharpe and Nevett Steele, Jr., Asst. U. S. Attys., Baltimore, Md., for plaintiff.
Norman P. Ramsey, Baltimore, Md., for defendant.
Defendant has moved to dismiss the third count of the indictment, which charges a violation of 26 U.S.C.A. § 7206(1), in that defendant, "who was the President of Nagar Drafting Company, Inc., a body corporate of the State of Florida, did willfully and knowingly make and subscribe at Hyattsville, Maryland, a Form 1120, U. S. Corporation Income Tax Return, which was verified by a written declaration that it was made under the penalties of perjury and was filed with the District Director of Internal Revenue at Richmond, Virginia, which said Form 1120, U. S. Corporation Income Tax Return, he did not believe to be true and correct as to every material matter".1
Defendant argues that since the corporate return was required to be filed and was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia the alleged crime was not committed within the jurisdiction of this Court, and that venue does not lie in this District.
Section 7206(1) of 26 U.S.C.A., entitled "Fraud and false statements", provides:
The indictment clearly charges that defendant made and subscribed the corporate return at Hyattsville, Maryland, which is within the District of Maryland. It may be true, as defendant argues, that the offense was not complete and could not have been prosecuted if the return had never been filed. See Butzman v. United States, 205 F.2d 343 (6 Cir. 1963), cert. den. 346 U.S. 828, 74 S.Ct. 50, 98 L.Ed. 353 (1963), and United States v. Horwitz, 247 F.Supp. 412 (N.D.Ill.1965), which held that the statute of limitations for the offense charged does not begin to run until the return is filed. But it does not follow that defendant cannot be prosecuted in the District of Maryland for the offense charged in the Third Count of the present indictment. The controlling principle was stated and applied in Newton v. United States, 162 F.2d 795 (4 Cir. 1947), cert. den. 333 U.S. 848, 68 S.Ct. 650, 92 L.Ed. 1130 (1948), where it was charged that the defendant, at Danville, in the Western District of Virginia, "did wilfully aid and assist in, and procure, counsel and advise the preparation under, and in connection with a matter arising under, the Internal Revenue laws, of a false and fraudulent claim * * *". Affirming and approving the decision and opinion of Judge Barksdale, 68 F. Supp. 952 (W.D.Va.1946), the Fourth Circuit said, 162 F.2d pp. 796-797:
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United States v. Bettenhausen, 73-1426
...prosecution ". . . shall be had in a district in which the offense was committed." We are persuaded by the reasoning in United States v. Hagan, 306 F.Supp. 620 (D.Md.). The court there said it might be true, as argued, that the offense was not complete and could not have been prosecuted if ......
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United States v. Slutsky
...This is consonant with the view that the "statutory key verbs" control in determining venue. See United States v. Hagan, 306 F.Supp. 620, 621-22 (D.Md.1969) (Thomsen, Chief Judge). Here, the key words in the statute are "makes and subscribes" a false return — acts charged as having been don......
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United States v. Lawhon, 73-3933.
...in the Middle District of Florida. Although venue is proper in the district where the return was made and subscribed, United States v. Hagan, D.Md.1969, 306 F.Supp. 620, venue may also lie in the district in which the return was filed. United States v. Gilkey, E.D.Pa.1973, 362 F.Supp. 1069.......
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U.S. v. Nuth
.... . . ." We agree with the trial court that the cases relied upon by Nuth are not applicable here. For example, United States v. Hagan, 306 F.Supp. 620 (D.C.Md.1969) deals with venue, and Butzman v. United States, 205 F.2d 343 (6th Cir. 1953) simply holds that the statute of limitations beg......