United States v. Denise Browning

MEMORANDUM

Defendant Denise Browning appeals her conviction and sentence for willfully aiding or assisting in the filing of false tax returns, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206 (2). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742 (a). For the reasons stated below, we affirm the conviction, but vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing.

1. Sufficient evidence supports Defendant’s conviction. The evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the government, Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 , 99 S.Ct. 2781 , 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), demonstrates that Defendant willfully prepared false tax returns. For example, instead of reporting the actual amount of wages paid to employees, Defendant only reported the wage amount that matched the amount of taxes the company already paid.

In 2005, during an interview with an IRS agent, Defendant acknowledged that the wages she reported on the returns should match those reported on the employees’ W-2s. Nevertheless, on a subsequent return, she again underreported the wages paid to employees. Defendant refused to sign the returns because she did not want to sign something under penalty of perjury that she knew was false.…