- Citation:
- Case No. 12-3026
- Tag(s):
-
- Ruling:
- In affirming the lower court's ruling, the Sixth Circult held that (i) convictions for concealing assets and making a false statement under oath in bankruptcy would stand because evidence showed that the defendant ("Carver") knowingly failed to disclose to the bankruptcy court a valuable wine collection and knowingly and falsely stated that he had sold the collection before the petition date; (ii) Carver's sentence was procedurally reasonable because the district court properly calculated the amount of damage and number of victims caused by his crimes; and (iii) his sentence was substantively reasonable because the district court, in fact, gave him a below-Guidelines sentence.
- Procedural context:
- Carver appealed from his convictions and resulting 24-month prison sentence for concealing assets and for making a false statement under oath in bankruptcy. The Sixth Circuit affirmed.
- Facts:
- Carver was the 100% owner of a medical practice, Joseph C. Carver, M.D., Inc., and he owned a valuable wine collection -- both in his personal capacity and as the sole owner of the corporation. The collection was valued at $825,000 according to a 2003 personal financial statement, and it was valued at $377,093.17 according to a 2004 corporate balance sheet. Carver's entire wine collection, along with other assets and a personal guarantee, secured a loan his corporation had with Citizen's Banking Company ("Citizen's"). Prior to filing bankrupcy in 2005, Carver took the entire collection to a wine auctioneer ("AMCC") and asked AMCC not to store the wine in his name. Over the next two-and a half years, AMCC sold the wine. Both before the petition date and after his bankruptcy case had concluded, Carver directed AMCC to remit the wine sale proceeds to him. During his bankruptcy, however, Carver directed AMCC to remit the wine sale proceeds to various third parties, including a woman who later became his wife. During his bankruptcy case, Carver fabricated documents to make it appear as if the third party payments were being made on account of pre-existing loans. Carver did not list the wine collection on his schedules of assets and liabilities. During his meeting of creditors, Carver testified under oath that "the entire collection was sold." After his indictment and convictions, the district court determined that the total amount of damages resulting from Carver's crimes was $195,625.84 (approximately the amount of postpetition wine sales), not merely the amount Carver owed to Citizens. The district court also determined that all 47 of Carver's general unsecured creditors should be counted as victims -- even though Citizens ultimately was paid in full -- because all 47 general unsecured creditors should have shared in the sale proceeds on a pro rata basis. Based on the amount of damages and number of victims, the district court sentenced Carver to 24 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release. This sentence represented a below-Guidelines sentence, but not as low as the sentence imposed in United States v. Howe (a case cited by Carver in his appeal).
- Judge(s):
- Rogers, Griffin and Hood (by designation)
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