United States v. United States District Court for the Southern District of California

The government petitions for a writ of mandamus, seeking to overturn a district court order transferring certain counts of a tax evasion indictment to the district where some of the defendants reside. The wording of 18 U.S.C. § 3237 (b) compels us to deny the petition.

In May 1982, the government filed an 89-count indictment in the Southern District of California (San Diego), charging five defendants with a conspiracy to defraud the United States. In addition, the indictment raised numerous substantive tax evasion counts against the defendants individually, The indictment described a continuing program of tax. evasion devised by the defendants, organized and operated from San Diego. 1

*69 Virtually all the alleged activity connected with the scheme took place in or around San Diego. Tax returns of the defendants and the other individuals investing in the “tax shelters” established by the defendants were mailed to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Center in Fresno, which is in the Eastern District of California. Two of the defendants, Nicoladze and De Julio, resided in the San Francisco Bay Area, in the Northern District of California.

These two defendants filed a timely motion…