UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Scott KARTERMAN, Defendant-Appellant

OVERVIEW

Scott M. Karterman was convicted by a jury of two counts of making false statements on his income tax returns. He was acquitted on a count of attempted income tax evasion and two drug-related counts. The district court sentenced him to a 21-month prison term and one year of supervised release, imposed a $10,000 fine, and assessed $8,640.28 for costs. Karterman timely appeals both his conviction and his sentence. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

FACTS

Karterman is a real estate broker in Sun Valley, Idaho. The Internal Revenue Service and Drug Enforcement Agency began investigating him in the late 1980s. Pursuant to warrant searches of Karterman’s residence, government agents seized evidence of tax evasion and drug-related paraphernalia.

Karterman was charged with six counts: Two counts of making false statements on his income tax returns for 1985 and 1986 (counts 1 and 2); attempted income tax evasion for 1987 (count 3); conspiracy to distribute cocaine (count 4); distribution of cocaine (count 5); and using his residence to facilitate narcotics trafficking, thus justifying forfeiture of the property (count 6). The first five counts…