`
`IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
`
`FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
`________________________
`
`No. 07-10090
`Non-Argument Calendar
`________________________
`
` FILED
`U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
`ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
`December 30, 2008
`THOMAS K. KAHN
`CLERK
`
`D. C. Docket No. 06-00083-CR-3-MCR
`
`Plaintiff-Appellee,
`
`versus
`
`Defendant-Appellant.
`
`UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
`
`
`
`
`
`
`KENT E. HOVIND,
`
`
`
`________________________
`
`No. 07-10502
`Non-Argument Calendar
`_______________________
`
`D. C. Docket No. 06-00083-CR-3-MCR
`
`UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
`
`
`
`
`
`Plaintiff-Appellee,
`
`
`
`Defendants-Appellants.
`
`versus
`
`
`KENT E. HOVIND,
`JO D. HOVIND,
`
`
`
`________________________
`
`Appeals from the United States District Court
`for the Northern District of Florida
`_________________________
`
`(December 30, 2008)
`
`Before ANDERSON, MARCUS and PRYOR, Circuit Judges.
`
`PER CURIAM:
`
`Kent Hovind appeals his convictions and sentences for failing to collect and
`
`pay employment withholding taxes, obstructing tax laws, and structuring
`
`transactions to avoid financial reporting laws, 18 U.S.C. § 2; 26 U.S.C. §§ 7202,
`
`7212(a); 31 U.S.C. § 5324(a)(3), (d); 31 C.F.R. § 103.11, and his wife, Jo Hovind,
`
`appeals her convictions and sentences for structuring transactions to avoid
`
`reporting laws, 18 U.S.C. § 2; 31 U.S.C. § 5324(a)(3), (d); 31 C.F.R. § 103.11.
`
`Kent and Jo challenge the sufficiency of their indictments and the evidence. Kent
`
`also challenges the calculation of the loss amount and the imposition of restitution,
`
`and Jo challenges the order of forfeiture. We affirm.
`
`2
`
`
`
`I. BACKGROUND
`
`The Hovinds owned and operated Creation Science Evangelism Enterprises,
`
`which sold videos and literature, provided lecture services, and hosted live debates.
`
` Between 1999 and 2003, the Hovinds withdrew from AmSouth Bank over one and
`
`a half million dollars in increments less than $10,000 to avoid federal filing
`
`requirements. Company documents and records of the transactions established that
`
`Jo controlled the finances of Evangelism Enterprises and controlled most of the
`
`checks that were cashed. Kent, who oversaw payroll and related federal tax
`
`obligations, failed to withhold or pay quarterly federal withholding taxes or file
`
`related documents with the Internal Revenue Service between 2001 and 2003.
`
`The Hovinds were charged in a 58-count indictment. Kent was charged in
`
`the first twelve counts of the indictment for willfully failing to deduct and pay
`
`federal income and withholding taxes for employees of Evangelism Enterprises.
`
`26 U.S.C. § 7202. The Hovinds were charged in the next 45 counts for structuring
`
`cash withdrawals to avoid financial reporting requirements. 18 U.S.C. § 2; 31
`
`U.S.C. §§ 5313(a), 5324(a)(3), 5324(d); 31 C.F.R. § 103.11. Kent was charged in
`
`the last count of the indictment for obstructing the administration of internal
`
`revenue laws. 26 U.S.C. § 7212(a). The indictment also included a provision for
`
`forfeiture by the Hovinds of “any and all property, real and personal, involved in”
`
`3
`
`
`
`the financial reporting crimes “and any property traceable thereto” and, if that
`
`specific property could not be recovered, for “forfeiture of any other property of
`
`[the Hovinds] up to the value of the . . . property.” Approximately two months
`
`after the court-imposed filing deadline, the Hovinds moved to dismiss their
`
`indictments. The district court denied the motions as untimely and without merit.
`
`After the government rested its case at trial, the Hovinds moved for an
`
`acquittal on each count of the indictment. Defense counsel argued that the
`
`government was required to prove for each count of structuring that the transaction
`
`equaled or exceeded $10,000 and, because the evidence established that each
`
`transaction was less than that threshold, the Hovinds were entitled to dismissal of
`
`those counts. The government responded that it had a “fundamental disagreement”
`
`with the Hovinds’ interpretation of the structuring statutes and argued that
`
`structuring necessarily requires a transaction under $10,000. The district court
`
`“agree[d] with the government” that the Hovinds’ interpretation of structuring was
`
`contrary to the statutes and denied the Hovinds’ motion. The court later referred to
`
`its decision on the motion and instructed defense counsel that they would “not be
`
`permitted” to argue their interpretation of the structuring statutes. After discussion
`
`of the issue, defense counsel explained that they intended to argue that the
`
`government did not prove that the Hovinds structured each transaction to evade
`
`4
`
`
`
`reporting requirements.
`
` The Hovinds were found guilty of all charges. The jury found that $430,400
`
`was involved in or traceable to the financial reporting crimes. The jury entered a
`
`special verdict against the Hovinds for the forfeiture of real and personal property
`
`attributable to the reporting crimes.
`
`Separate presentence investigation reports were prepared for Kent and Jo.
`
`Kent’s report paired the first 12 counts of the indictment into one group and the
`
`next 44 counts into a second group. United States Sentencing Guidelines §
`
`3D1.2(d) (Nov. 2001). The report listed the offense level applicable to each group
`
`and selected the second group, which had the highest offense level of 22. Id. §§
`
`2B1.1(b)(1); 3D1.3(b); 2S1.3. The base offense level was increased by 2 levels
`
`because the offense was part of a pattern of unlawful activity that involved more
`
`than $100,000 in a 12-month period, id. § 2S1.3(b)(2), and increased another 6
`
`levels for Kent’s aggravating role in the crimes. Id. §§ 3B1.1(a); 3C1.1. With a
`
`criminal history of I, the report provided a sentencing range between 97 and 121
`
`months of imprisonment. The report calculated a tax liability, under the first
`
`twelve counts of the indictment, of $604,874.87. Id. § 5E1.1(a)(2).
`
`Jo’s presentence report listed a base offense level of 22. Id. §§ 2B1.1(b)(1);
`
`2S1.3. The report decreased the base level by 16 levels because Jo did not act with
`
`5
`
`
`
`reckless disregard of the source of the funds and because the funds were the
`
`proceeds of lawful activity and were to be used for a lawful purpose, id. §
`
`2D1.3(b)(2). With a criminal history of I, the report provided a sentencing range
`
`between 0 and 6 months of imprisonment.
`
`Before Jo’s sentencing hearing, the government moved to forfeit substitute
`
`property and requested the court substitute ten parcels of real property and a bank
`
`account belonging to Jo and Kent to satisfy the $430,400 judgment. 21 U.S.C. §
`
`853(p). The government attached to the motion an affidavit from Special Agent
`
`Charles Evans of the Internal Revenue Service. The affidavit stated that the
`
`agency could not find the $430,400 because the Hovinds had transferred the assets
`
`to a third party, expended the assets on business-related expenses, and removed the
`
`assets from the jurisdiction of the district court.
`
`The district court found that the Hovinds had disposed of the assets subject
`
`to forfeiture and granted the motion of the government to substitute property. The
`
`district court entered a final order of forfeiture against Jo and sentenced her to one
`
`year and one day of imprisonment. The court sentenced Kent to 120 months of
`
`imprisonment and to supervised release of 3 years, and ordered Kent to pay
`
`restitution of $604,874.87.
`
`6
`
`
`
`II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW
`
`We apply three standards of review in this appeal. We review de novo the
`
`sufficiency of an indictment. United States v. Bobo, 344 F.3d 1076, 1082–83
`
`(11th Cir. 2003). We review de novo challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence
`
`and view the evidence in the light most favorable to the government. United States
`
`v. Futrell, 209 F.3d 1286, 1288 (11th Cir. 2000). When an issue is not preserved
`
`for appeal, our review is for plain error. See United States v. Rubio, 317 F.3d
`
`1240, 1241 n.1 (11th Cir. 2003). We review de novo jury instructions to determine
`
`“‘whether they misstate the law or mislead the jury to the prejudice of the objecting
`
`party.’” United States v. Bender, 290 F.3d 1279, 1284 (11th Cir. 2002) (quoting
`
`United States v. Grigsby, 111 F.3d 806, 814 (11th Cir. 1997)). We review for clear
`
`error the calculation of the amount of loss. United States v. Machado, 333 F.3d
`
`1225, 1227 (11th Cir. 2003). We review de novo the legality of the orders of
`
`restitution and of forfeiture. United States v. Foley, 508 F.3d 627, 632 (11th Cir.
`
`2007) (citing United States v. Hasson, 333 F.3d 1264, 1275 (11th Cir. 2003)).
`
`III. DISCUSSION
`
`Kent and Jo Hovind raise multiple issues for our consideration. Their
`
`arguments fail. We address each argument in turn.
`
`7
`
`
`
`A. The Hovinds Indictments Were Sufficient.
`
`It is a well-established principle that “‘[t]he sufficiency of a criminal
`
`indictment is determined from its face.’” United States v. Sharpe, 438 F.3d 1257,
`
`1263 (11th Cir. 2006) (quoting United States v. Salman, 378 F.3d 1266, 1268 (11th
`
`Cir. 2004)). “For an indictment to be valid, it must ‘contain the elements of the
`
`offense intended to be charged, and sufficiently apprise the defendant of what he
`
`must be prepared to meet.’” United States v. Bobo, 344 F.3d 1076, 1083 (11th Cir.
`
`2003) (quoting Russell v. United States, 369 U.S. 749, 763, 82 S. Ct. 1038, 1047
`
`(1962)). When the indictment tracks the language of the statute, “‘it must be
`
`accompanied with such a statement of the facts and circumstances as will inform
`
`the accused of the specific offense, coming under the general description, with
`
`which he is charged.’” Id. (quoting Russell, 369 U.S. at 765, 82 S. Ct. at 1048).
`
`The indictment sufficiently alleged Kent’s tax crimes. Kent complains that
`
`his indictment omitted what part of Title 26 required him to collect and pay federal
`
`withholding taxes for employees of Evangelism Enterprises and failed to define
`
`how he acted “willfully,” but these arguments fail. Kent was adequately notified
`
`of his offenses to prepare a defense and to plead double jeopardy in any future
`
`prosecution for the same offense. The indictment alleged that Kent violated
`
`Section 7202 of Title 26 and described Kent’s responsibilities under the tax laws,
`
`8
`
`
`
`explained Kent’s failure to withhold and pay quarterly federal withholding taxes,
`
`and stated the taxable periods in which Kent incurred a tax liability. The
`
`government was not required to include specific statutory authority for Kent’s tax
`
`liability or to allege facts regarding Kent’s willfulness. See United States v.
`
`Chisum, 502 F.3d 1237, 1244–45 (10th Cir. 2007) (affirming as sufficient an
`
`indictment for tax evasion that omitted “what part of Title 26 imposed the tax that
`
`was being evaded or defeated”). Cf. Huff v. United States, 273 F.2d 56, 58–59
`
`(5th Cir. 1959) (indictment for smuggling goods into the United States without an
`
`invoice was sufficient even without a reference to the statute that required
`
`invoicing or a factual description of the crime).
`
`The indictment also sufficiently alleged the Hovinds’ structuring crimes.
`
`The Hovinds argue that each of the structuring counts fails to state an offense
`
`because each count fails to allege that the Hovinds structured an amount that
`
`exceeded $10,000 and, without this allegation, the indictments were defective. The
`
`Hovinds contend that the language used in the financial reporting statute did not
`
`suggest that structuring could involve a cash transaction of less than $10,000.
`
`These arguments ignore the plain language of the statute and our interpretation of
`
`it. A person is prohibited from “structur[ing] . . . any transaction” to “evad[e] the
`
`reporting requirements[,]” 31 U.S.C. § 5324(a)(3), of domestic financial
`
`9
`
`
`
`institutions. Those reporting requirements are activated upon the “payment,
`
`receipt, or transfer of United States coins or currency[,]” 31 U.S.C. § 5313(a), “of
`
`more than $10,000.” 31 C.F.R. § 103.22(b). In other words, section 5324(a)(3)
`
`forbids a person from transacting in amounts less than $10,000 to avoid detection
`
`by and reporting of the transactions by a financial institution. United States v.
`
`Phipps, 81 F.3d 1056, 1060–61 (11th Cir. 1996). That interpretation is also
`
`consistent with the intent of Congress for the structuring provision to “operate[]
`
`‘without regard for whether an individual transaction is, itself, reportable . . . .’”
`
`Id. at 1061 (quoting S. Rep. No. 433, 99th Cong., 2d Sess. 22 (1986)). Because a
`
`cash transaction does not have to equal or exceed $10,000 to constitute a
`
`structuring offense, the district court did not err by denying the Hovinds’ motion to
`
`dismiss.
`
`Kent’s indictment for obstructing administration of the tax laws also states
`
`an offense. Kent argues for the first time on appeal that the charge failed to state
`
`an offense because none of the acts listed, which included filing complaints against
`
`agents of the Internal Revenue Service and instituting bankruptcy and other legal
`
`proceedings against those agents, were corrupt. His argument misapprehends the
`
`definition of “corruptly.” Acts that might otherwise be legal become corrupt and
`
`obstructionist when they are used to “thwart the efforts of government officers and
`
`10
`
`
`
`employees in executing the laws enacted by Congress.” United States v. Popkin,
`
`943 F.2d 1535, 1540 (11th Cir. 1991). The district court did not err, much less
`
`plainly err, by denying Kent’s motion to dismiss.
`
`B. The Government Introduced Sufficient Evidence To Support the Hovinds’
`Convictions.
`
`The Hovinds challenge their convictions on three grounds. First, Kent
`
`argues that his failure to withhold taxes was not willful. Second, the Hovinds
`
`argue that they did not know that section 5324(a)(3) prohibited a transaction of less
`
`than $10,000. Third, Kent argues that legal actions he instituted before and during
`
`the investigation of the Internal Revenue Service were not corrupt and cannot
`
`support his conviction for obstruction of tax laws.
`
`1. Kent Refused To Comply With Laws To Collect And Pay Federal
`Withholding Taxes.
`
`Sufficient evidence establishes that Kent failed to collect or pay withholding
`
`taxes. Kent argues that the government failed to prove that he acted willfully
`
`absent evidence that Kent knew of the specific statutes that required him to collect
`
`and pay withholding taxes, but that argument fails. In Cheek v. United States, 498
`
`U.S. 192, 201, 111 S. Ct. 604, 610 (1991), the Supreme Court explained in a
`
`hypothetical that the government would satisfy the “knowledge component of the
`
`willfulness requirement” if it introduced evidence that the defendant knew of the
`
`11
`
`
`
`“duty purportedly imposed” by the tax laws, not that he knew which specific
`
`provision created that duty. Id. at 201–02, 111 S. Ct. at 610–11. When a
`
`defendant knows of facts constituting an offense, he has “acted with the requisite
`
`willfulness to violate the law.” United States v. Fields, 500 F.3d 1327, 1332 (11th
`
`Cir. 2007) (citing Bryan v. United States, 498 U.S. 184, 196, 118 S. Ct. 1939, 1947
`
`(1998)).
`
`The government proved that Kent knew the tax laws required the collection
`
`and payment of withholding taxes, but he refused to comply. Employees of
`
`Evangelism Enterprises, peers, and legal counsel testified that Kent disputed the
`
`authority of the Internal Revenue Service based on the separation of the church and
`
`state, debated the interpretation and application of the withholding requirements,
`
`and intentionally characterized Evangelism Enterprises as a “church” and his
`
`employees as “missionaries” to avoid tax obligations. Kent had opined to attorney
`
`David Gibbs that he was “smarter” than other church officials who had forfeited
`
`real property after they refused to collect or pay withholding taxes. Although Kent
`
`argued at trial that he was ignorant of the law and the Revenue Service failed to
`
`identify a law that required him to collect and pay withholding taxes, the jury was
`
`entitled to find that Kent knew about and deliberately violated the tax laws. See
`
`United States v. Lankford, 955 F.2d 1545, 1550 (11th Cir. 1992).
`
`12
`
`
`
`2. The Hovinds Structured Transactions To Avoid Reporting Requirements.
`
`The government also proved that the Hovinds structured their cash
`
`withdrawals to avoid federal reporting requirements. Although the Hovinds
`
`challenge the validity of their convictions on the ground that the statute does not
`
`penalize transactions below $10,000, this interpretation does not comport with the
`
`language of the statute. Congress enacted Section 5324(a)(3) to penalize “any
`
`transaction” structured to “avoid triggering [a] bank’s duty to file a [Currency
`
`Transaction Report] in the first place.” Phipps, 81 F.3d at 1059–60. By its plain
`
`language, the statute prohibits transactions of less than $10,000 that are intended to
`
`evade reporting requirements. Id. at 1060–61. That reading comports with the
`
`regulations that define structuring to penalize cash transactions designed “in any
`
`manner, . . . including transactions . . . below $10,000 . . . for the purpose of
`
`evading the reporting requirements . . . .” 31 C.F.R. § 103.11(gg).
`
`Evidence established that Kent and Jo Hovind structured cash transactions
`
`with knowledge of, and the intent to avoid, reporting of those transactions by
`
`AmSouth Bank. See United States v. MacPherson, 424 F.3d 183, 189 (2d Cir.
`
`2005); United States v. Cassano, 371 F.3d 868, 878 (7th Cir. 2004). A former
`
`employee of Evangelism Enterprises, Brian Popp, testified that Kent knew of and
`
`complained about the bank reporting requirements and that Jo, often at Kent’s
`
`13
`
`
`
`direction, regularly obtained cash to pay employees of the organization. Other
`
`employees and associates of Kent testified that the Hovinds openly disputed the
`
`validity of the tax laws. Various documents established that Jo withdrew cash in
`
`increments of $9500 and $9600 from AmSouth Bank as often as four or five times
`
`a month, for a total of 45 transactions between July 2001 and August 2002.
`
`Viewing this evidence in a light favorable to the prosecution, the jury was entitled
`
`to find that Kent and Jo knew of the reporting requirements and structured cash
`
`transactions in amounts less than $10,000 to prevent AmSouth Bank from
`
`reporting the transactions. See United States v. Williams, 121 F.3d 615, 621 (11th
`
`Cir. 1997) (willfulness “requires proof of an intentional violation of a known legal
`
`duty”); In re Jacobs, 490 F.3d 913, 925 (11th Cir. 2007) (“‘the conduct
`
`requirement is satisfied where a debtor engages in affirmative acts to avoid
`
`payment or collection of taxes’” (quoting In re Fretz, 244 F.3d 1323, 1329 (11th
`
`Cir. 2001))).
`
`3. Kent Obstructed the Investigation of His Tax Offenses.
`
`Substantial evidence established that Kent obstructed investigation of his tax
`
`offenses. A person is guilty of obstructing the administration of tax laws if he
`
`“corruptly” acts to “intimidate or impede any officer” or to “obstruct[], impede, or
`
`endeavors to obstruct or impede, the due administration” of the tax laws. Kent
`
`14
`
`
`
`filed complaints and sued agents of the Internal Revenue Service and instituted
`
`legal proceedings to circumvent the lawful seizure of his assets. This evidence
`
`supports the finding of the jury that Kent intended to impede agents of the Revenue
`
`Service in their efforts to investigate and prosecute Kent’s violations of the tax
`
`laws.
`
`C. The District Court Did Not Err By Adding a Sentence to the Jury Instruction.
`
`A district court is required to inform counsel before closing arguments how
`
`it intends to rule on proposed jury instructions. Fed. R. Crim. P. 30(b). We require
`
`substantial compliance with Rule 30 and reverse for a violation of the rule only if
`
`the defendant establishes that he was prejudiced by the change in a jury instruction.
`
`United States v. White, 27 F.3d 1531, 1538 (11th Cir. 1990). Prejudice exists only
`
`if the defendant establishes that the modification of the instruction was substantial
`
`and repudiated or rendered ineffective his arguments. Id.
`
`The Hovinds were not prejudiced by the change to the jury instruction. The
`
`district court did not substantially modify the instruction on structuring. In his
`
`closing argument, Kent Hovind used the original jury instruction in a manner that
`
`suggested that the government was required to prove that structuring required a
`
`cash transaction that equaled or exceeded $10,000. That jury instruction read,
`
`To structure a transaction means to deposit or withdraw or otherwise
`participate in a transfer of a total of more than $10,000 in cash or
`
`15
`
`
`
`currency by or through a financial institution or bank by setting up or
`arranging a series of separate transactions, each involving $10,000 or
`less individually, thereby intentionally evading the currency reporting
`requirements that would have applied if the transaction had not been
`so structured.
`
`The district court added the last sentence of the regulation that defines structuring:
`
`“The transaction or transactions need not exceed the $10,000 reporting threshold at
`
`any single financial institution on any single day in order to constitute structuring .
`
`. . .” 31 C.F.R. § 103.11(gg). The district court was entitled to revise the jury
`
`instruction in this manner. See Bender, 290 F.3d at 1284 (“We give the district
`
`court wide discretion as to the style and wording employed in the instructions,
`
`ascertaining that the instructions accurately reflect the law.”).
`
`D. The Hovinds Were Correctly Sentenced.
`
`The Hovinds challenge their sentences on three grounds. First, Kent
`
`challenges the calculation of the tax loss. Second, Kent challenges his restitution.
`
`Third, Jo challenges the forfeiture of substitute property. These arguments fail.
`
`Kent argues that the district court violated his rights under the Sixth
`
`Amendment when it calculated the tax loss attributable to his tax evasion charges,
`
`but the tax loss played no role in Kent’s sentence. The district court used the
`
`offense level for Kent’s structuring charges instead of the offense level for his tax
`
`charges to calculate Kent’s sentence. Because the guideline range and sentence
`
`16
`
`
`
`was the same regardless of the amount of tax loss, any error in the calculation was
`
`harmless. See United States v. Tampas, 493 F.3d 1291, 1305 (11th Cir. 2007).
`
`Kent challenges his restitution on two grounds both of which fail. First,
`
`Kent argues that restitution was not a penalty for his crimes, but his argument
`
`ignores that the district court ordered restitution as a condition of Kent’s
`
`supervised release. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 3563, 3583(d). Second, Kent argues, without
`
`citation to any authority, that the Internal Revenue Service cannot be a victim, but
`
`Kent’s argument overlooks that the Revenue Service, as the agency responsible for
`
`collecting taxes, is the only possible victim of tax evasion. Cf. Balogun v. U.S.
`
`Att’y Gen., 425 F.3d 1356, 1361 (11th Cir. 2005) (finding the government a
`
`“victim” of tax evasion under immigration law). The district court did not err by
`
`ordering Kent to pay restitution.
`
`Jo presents two challenges to the forfeiture of substitute property both of
`
`which fail. First, Jo argues that the amount of forfeiture was excessive and
`
`unconstitutional because the money was obtained legally and expended for
`
`business obligations of Evangelism Enterprises, but we disagree. The jury was
`
`entitled to find that the Hovinds structured transactions to avoid financial reporting
`
`laws and hide assets from the Revenue Service and a forfeiture of $430,400 was
`
`warranted to punish the Hovinds for their crimes. See Hasson, 333 F.3d at
`
`17
`
`
`
`1279–80. Second, Jo argues that the district court erred by substituting property
`
`because the $430,300 could be traced to business-related expenses, but we again
`
`disagree. The district court was entitled to order the forfeiture of substitute
`
`property when the original property was “transferred . . . or deposited with[] a third
`
`party.” 21 U.S.C. § 853(p)(1)(B). The district court did not err by ordering a
`
`substitution of forfeiture property.
`
`IV. CONCLUSION
`
`The convictions and sentences of the Hovinds are AFFIRMED.
`
`18