Sentencing on federal tax fraud charges rescheduled for Steven Ingersoll, attorney seeks new trial
BAY CITY, MI — Steven J. Ingersoll has a few more months to wait before learning his punishment stemming from federal tax evasion convictions, and may face a new trial entirely if a judge deems so.
A month-long trial ended on Tuesday, March 10, with the jury finding Ingersoll guilty on two counts of attempting to evade or defeat tax and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. The jury exonerated him of three counts of fraud by wire, radio, or television. The same jury also found one of Ingersoll's codefendants, Roy C. Bradley Sr., guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States
U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Ludington scheduled himself to sentence Ingersoll and Bradley on Tuesday, June 16. That hearing has now been moved to 2 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 24, due to some back-and-forth motions filed by defense counsel and federal prosecutors.
Ingersoll's attorney, Martin E. Crandall, on March 24 filed a motion to have Ludington issue a judgment of acquittal or order a new trial, arguing the government violated his client's due process rights.
" 'Where the law is vague or highly debatable, a defendant – actually or impliedly – lacks the requisite intent to violate it,'" Crandall wrote in his motion, quoting a 1985 case. "The unsettled nature of the law was ... demonstrated by the IRS Revenue Agent's and the Assistant United States Attorney's invocation of a factor (inadequate earnings and profits) that was not even identified by the Court as a relevant factor in this case. The unsettled nature of the law was further demonstrated by the IRS Revenue Agent's testimony that he himself did not know what the factors were and that he, an experienced CPA, needed someone else to find them for him."
In his motion, Crandall went on to say that "the prosecution made several improper suggestions, insinuations, and assertions of personal knowledge that the Defendant or a witness was lying, all of which resulted in an unfair trial. An additional foul occurred when the prosecution twice described their own burden of proof as amounting to preponderance of the evidence, all the while inviting the jury to lend more credence to the government as a figure of authority."
Bradley's attorney, Mark A. Satawa, joined Crandall's motion for his client to receive a judgment of acquittal.
Crandall also filed a motion asking for Ludington to amend some conditions of Ingersoll's bond to allow him to contact certain people named as witnesses by the prosecution for the trial. The government opposed this motion.
The prosecution then filed a motion seeking Ludington issue an order restraining Ingersoll from "dissipating assets that should be used to ensure payment of the fines and restitution that Steven Ingersoll will be required to pay as part of his sentence to be imposed in this case." The motion states Ingersoll owes $1,673,025 in back taxes; with applicable penalties and interest, the total is $2,699,673.48.
The motion went on to say that since his trial began and after his conviction, Ingersoll has been making efforts "to cloud the title to property owned by his various entities and to put his property interests beyond the reach of the court."
Ingersoll's attorneys filed a motion opposing the government's request for a restraining order.
Ludington is to preside over a hearing on the restraining order issue at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6. He's to preside over a hearing on the motion for acquittal or new trial at 4 p.m. on Thursday, July 23.
Ingersoll is free on bond pending sentencing.
Prior to the February-March trial, a separate federal jury in December found Bradley guilty of four counts of illegally distributing and handling asbestos, in violation of the Clean Air Act. Ingersoll in 2011 had hired Bradley to do renovations at the 400 N. Madison Ave. church to convert it into the first campus of Ingersoll's Bay City Academy charter school.
Ludington on March 12 — mere days after Bradley's second conviction-ending trial ended — sentenced Bradley to five years in prison on the asbestos-related convictions.Sentencing on federal tax fraud charges rescheduled for Steven Ingersoll, attorney seeks new trial | MLive.com: