United States v. Ronald H. Pacheco

Ronald Pacheco appeals his convictions, following a jury trial, for aiding the preparation of false income tax returns, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206 (2), making and subscribing a false income tax return, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 , and making false statements to the IRS, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206 (1).

We must decide whether the tax investment scheme devised and executed by the appellant was illegal and if so, criminal. We hold it was both. We are also called upon to decide a host of evidentiary and procedural issues. Because none of them require us to reverse the appellant’s conviction for tax offenses, we affirm.

Background

Ronald H. Pacheco has an extensive background in tax. He was an Internal Revenue Agent for twelve years and has a master’s degree in business administration, specializing in taxation, from Golden Gate University where he also taught tax. The charges against him arose from a limited partnership (“Lapeer Associates” or “La-peer”) he devised in 1979 to allow investors a three-to-one tax write-off for each dollar they invested. Not only was Pacheco the general partner, but he prepared the returns for the partnership as well as submitting…