United States v. Ronnie Joseph Brickey

Defendant-Appellant Ronnie Joseph Brickey (“Defendant”) appeals his jury trial conviction and sentence for willfully making a false income tax return ( 26 U.S.C. § 7206 (1)) and attempting to evade income taxes ( 26 U.S.C. § 7201 ). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3742 and 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm.

I. FACTS

Defendant worked as a border inspector for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) at the San Luis, Arizona, Port of Entry, beginning in August 1996. During 1997, Defendant received more than $120,000 in income by participating in a scheme whereby cars were permitted to cross into the United States from Mexico without subjecting them to routine inspection. Defendant failed to report this income on his 1997 federal income tax return, and failed to pay income tax on the funds.

An indictment charging the two tax offenses was returned on August 18, 1999, and Defendant first appeared before a Magistrate Judge on August 24, 1999. The first Pretrial Motion was filed on June 8, 2000. Defendant’s trial counsel filed six motions for extensions of time within which to file pretrial motions and to reschedule trial of the case. The district court granted all…