Case Study
In what the IRS called the largest prosecution case in the history of the agency, a minister and his wife were charged with 64 felonies and faced the possibility of 180 combined years in prison.
– Case Description
In what the IRS called the largest prosecution case in the history of the agency, a minister and his wife were charged with 64 felonies and faced the possibility of 180 combined years in prison. Their car and home had been seized by the government. Raids were conducted in three countries and a dozen states simultaneously, using over 10% of the special agents employed by IRS. Of an original defense list of ten defendants, all ten were convicted and sentenced. Before Minns got involved, both the minister and his wife had previously lost their cases and were sentenced to long prison terms. Jurisdiction: Seattle, WA and Costa Rica. (U.S. v. James and Pamela Moran).
Final Result
The conviction against the Minister and his wife was reversed and a new trial ordered. Michael Minns was appointed by the Federal court to represent the defense in a second trial. The Morans were found not guilty on all 64 counts, the largest number of offshore acquittals in a single trial for a single family. They spent no time in prison, and their home and car were returned to them.