In June of this year, the biggest tax fraud prosecution ever hit the skids when it was revealed that one of the jurors was a “pathological liar” who lied about everything from her background to her address in order to have a hand in sending a number of tax pros and attorneys to jail. The high profile case was aimed at tax professionals and advisors who allegedly marketed illegal tax shelters to wealthy taxpayers in an effort to avoid paying taxes.
The juror who brought the case down, Catherine M. Conrad, set out to be chosen for the jury to ensure that the defendants would be found guilty, claiming that “most attorneys” were “career criminals.” Two of the defendants in the case, Daugerdas and Guerin, are attorneys from the now-defunct Jenkens & Gilchrist.
As a result of Conrad’s actions, U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III ordered Daugerdas and Guerin, as well as Denis M. Field be given a new trial. That might not be necessary after all.
This week, Guerin, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax evasion. As a result of her plea, she could be sentenced up to 10 years in prison.
Daugerdas and Field have pleaded not guilty and await retrial – unless they, like Guerin, change their plea. The last version of the trial took three months and included 9,200 pages of testimony from forty-one witnesses; the federal government produced more than 22,000,000 documents during discovery.
