American tax officials

Chapter 121 A Battle of Wits in Court

Tyron originally wanted to refuse.

Unfortunately, the Native Americans offered him a price he couldn't refuse.

In the end, he thought that losing a case in the IRS court was a normal thing and not shameful, so he gritted his teeth and accepted the case!

Before I knew it, the four of them, including Dietrich and Tewin, had been brought to the dock.

Chiesa first looked at Dieter and asked, "Mr. Dieter, you are now being charged with multiple offenses, including tax evasion, plotting to attack IRS officers, and fleeing the country. What do you have to say?"

Dieter first looked at Tyron before turning to say, "I didn't plan the attack on IRS personnel. It was all done by someone else; I had no knowledge of it!"

It's clear that Dieter had received some pointers.

Those who advised him knew very well that of all his crimes, assaulting an IRS officer was the most serious.

If this charge is not upheld, then perhaps he will be able to get out of prison alive someday!

Chiesa asked, "Others? Who are you referring to?"

Dieter replied, "I don't know!"

"But according to the documents submitted by the IRS, this was clearly orchestrated by you, and only you had this motive!"

"I don't know, but I definitely didn't order it!"

Chiesa's expression darkened. He looked at David, who was sitting in the first row, and said, "In that case, let's have Chief Tax Officer David, who is in charge of this case, come up and give his statement!"

David stood up, walked to the floor below the courtroom, and said, "Your Honor, according to page three of the fourth document I submitted, there is witness testimony regarding Dieter's assassination attempt, and the witness, the defendant Iman, is here right now and can testify at any time!"

Chiesa flipped to the fourth document David had mentioned, glanced at it, then looked at Iman and asked, "Mr. Iman, as the perpetrator, who ordered you to assassinate Tax Commissioner David?"

Iman raised his head and said, "Your Honor, the assassination was Dieter's doing."

"You're lying! I never ordered you to fight!"

Dieter immediately roared in anger.

At this moment, Tyronn raised his hand, indicating that he wanted to speak.

Chiesa said, "Now it's time for the defense attorney to speak!"

Tyron stood up and said, "Your Honor, according to the information I have, Mr. Dieter did not instruct Iman to assassinate the IRS personnel; someone else did!"

"Someone else? Who is it?"

Tyron turned to Iman and asked, "Mr. Iman, as far as I know, you've never met Mr. Dieter before, and you have a close relationship with Virginia. Was this assassination attempt orchestrated by Virginia?"

Upon hearing this, the people present finally understood.

It turns out that Dieter planned to pin the assassination charge on his subordinate Virginia!

Everyone's attention was focused on Virginia's face, but they found that although she looked somber, she didn't say a word, as if she had already foreseen this outcome.

Of course, it's impossible to predict in advance; humans don't have that kind of superpower.

The only explanation is that they had planned this beforehand!

Chiesa looked at Iman and asked, "Mr. Iman, is what the defense lawyer said true?"

Iman was speechless for a moment.

As Tyronn said, he had only ever worked for Virginia and had never met Dieter.

Therefore, even if he knew that Dieter had instigated this, as long as Virginia refused to admit it, he had no direct evidence to prove it.

Finally, he could only turn his gaze to David, his eyes seeming to tell David: I am powerless!

But David wasn't in a hurry. He slowly said, "Your Honor, I would like to call a witness named Sapir!"

"allow!"

Not long after, Sapir was brought out by an inspector.

Upon seeing him, Dieter's eyes instantly blazed with anger, and he became agitated, because he had just heard that Sapir was present as a witness.

In other words, they came to testify against themselves!

Before he knew it, Sapir had arrived at the witness stand.

Chiesa then asked, "Mr. Sapir, please state your identity first!"

"It's Your Honor!"

Sapir first glanced at Dieter with apprehension, then looked at David, and finally organized his thoughts before saying, "I am the lawyer for Dieter's criminal organization. My main responsibilities within the organization include helping Dieter launder money and circumvent legal issues, among other things..."

Chiesa asked, "So, you're a high-ranking figure in this group?"

"Yes, Your Honor!"

"Regarding Dieter's alleged assassination attempt on an IRS officer, what testimony do you have to provide?"

"I was there when Dieter was preparing the assassination. I heard it with my own ears: it was Dieter who instructed Virginia, and Virginia eventually found Iman..."

"You bastard, you betrayed me! I'm going to kill you, you damned Sapir!"

Before Sapir could finish speaking, Dieter suddenly flew into a rage, looking fierce and menacing. If it weren't for the inspectors holding him back on either side, he might have pounced on him.

"Bang bang bang!!!"

Chiesa picked up the gavel and struck it three times heavily, then shouted, "Silence! Defense attorney, do you have anything to add?"

Tyronn remained silent.

He had no idea about Sapir's affair, and Dieter hadn't mentioned to him last night that Sapir would be testifying in court, so he was caught off guard.

After all, as a high-ranking figure in the Dieter Group, and having witnessed the assassination attempt firsthand, Sapir's testimony is irrefutable and cannot be overturned.

Of course, in the end, it was because the time was too short.

If he had ten days or half a month to study this case, he might be able to find some points to refute it.

But now that he's only been given one night, with so much evidence and witnesses from the IRS, even a god couldn't save him.

"Since there's nothing to add, the charge of assassinating an IRS officer is valid!"

Chiesa opened another document and continued, "Mr. Dieter, you are now being charged with a second offense: suspected tax evasion!"

"According to the information submitted by Tax Chief David, he has frozen over 1500 million in your account. In addition, nearly 300 million in cash and a quantity of drugs were found in your warehouse. Do you have anything to say?"

Dieter didn't reply, but Tyron raised his hand and stood up, saying, "Your Honor, the frozen accounts don't belong to Dieter, meaning there's no tax evasion issue. Furthermore, the so-called warehouses and seized drug cash also don't belong to Dieter. Therefore, I believe the charge should be dismissed!"

David gave Sapir a wink.

Sapir immediately understood and raised his hand, saying, "Your Honor, those accounts were opened in my name after an agreement with several wealthy individuals who had not publicly declared bankruptcy. The actual controller was Dieter, and I can testify to that. Moreover, the testimony I provided also included detailed information about the account opening process..."

Chiesa, on stage, glanced at the documents, nodded in approval, and finally looked at Tyron, saying, "Defense attorney, is there anything to add?"

Tyron's expression shifted for a moment before he replied, "There might be discrepancies in the accounts, but the cash and drugs in the warehouse have nothing to do with Mr. Dieter!"

Based on Sapir's testimony and the documents submitted, he knew that it was impossible to refute the account.

So he could only try his best to clear some of his charges. Even if he didn't get a good result, at least he had to let the Native Americans see that he had come to court and received money, which was considered as doing his part!

This time it was David's turn to raise his hands. He said, "Your Honor, regarding the warehouse, I think I need to call a few more witnesses to testify!"

"allow."

Soon, three more people were brought in.

These three people were none other than Baldwin, Byron, and Gustav.

"Damn it, Baldwin, Byron, Gustav, are you three bastards also siding with the IRS? Fine, fine, I, Dieter, have misjudged you dogs!"

Upon seeing the three of them, Dieter, who was already irritable and restless, became even more ferocious in his eyes and expression.

The three men did not dare to meet his gaze and lowered their heads after arriving at the witness stand. They only began to speak after Chiesa on the stage reminded them to state their identities.

"Your Honor, my name is Baldwin, and I am a key member of the Dieter crime syndicate. My job is to manage a portion of the drug trafficking and processing for him, and Warehouse No. 1, which the IRS seized this time, is within my jurisdiction."

"Your Honor, my name is Byron, and I am also a key member of the Dieter crime syndicate. My job is to manage drug trafficking for him, and Warehouse No. 2 is my territory."

"Your Honor, my name is Gustav..."

Upon hearing the three men's statements, Chiesa on the platform asked, "Very well, since you all claim to be key members of Dieter's forces, tell me, is this warehouse related to Dieter?"

Baldwin spoke first: "Your Honor, we are all under Dieter's leadership, so this warehouse is naturally related to him. Our usual procedure is this: we first purchase drugs from drug cartels, transport them back to the warehouse for processing, then distribute them to the 'distributors' below us, who then sell them at the locations controlled by Dieter. Finally, all the profits are handed over to Dieter..."

"Your Honor, the operational model of the area I manage is similar, firstly..."

"..."

In the following time, the three men gave their testimonies, revealing the entire gray industry chain from the purchase of drugs to processing, and finally the distribution of profits to Dieter.

Chiesa then looked at Tyron and asked, "Defense attorney, do you have anything to refute?"

Baldwin and the other two explained the whole process so clearly, how could Tyron possibly refute it? He could only look at Gar and the others who had come to listen in the audience, shake his head slightly, and indicate that he had no other choice and had done his best!

"Alright, since that's the case, Mr. Dieter, your charge of tax evasion is now confirmed. As for fleeing to avoid punishment, I think that doesn't need further explanation!"

Yesterday's events shocked the entire nation. The IRS deployed armed forces into the Native American tribe and finally managed to capture Dieter.

Therefore, as long as the first two charges are true, then the charge of fleeing to avoid punishment is self-evident, as Chiesa said!

"Next, we will proceed with the trial of suspect Twen Omaha, whose main charges include tax evasion, armed resistance against the IRS, and harboring a criminal!"

Chiesa looked at Twen and said, "Mr. Twen, what do you have to say in your defense against the charges brought against you by this court?"

His son's crimes have already been proven, so Twen himself has no way to defend himself and can only remain silent.

But Tyron, having already received the money, immediately raised his hand and stood up, arguing, "Your Honor, firstly, regarding the point about tax evasion, I cannot agree with it!"

"Under the laws of the United States, Native Americans have tax privileges, and the Black Tax Act was only passed on the 3rd last month."

"As an elder of an Indian tribe, Mr. Twen rarely interacts with the outside world and has overlooked the Black Tax Act; this is only natural!"

Tyronn's rebuttal is quite reasonable.

If you're talking about the black tax bill, which has been in effect for a year and a half, then that's easy to talk about.

But now that it has been introduced for less than two months, apart from politicians, civil servants, and people who follow the news in the market, who would know that such a bill exists?

It's normal to make a mistake!

Chiesa nodded, acknowledging Tyron's statement, then looked at David and asked, "Tax Chief David, is there anything to add?"

"Your Honor, as his father, doesn't Twen know why Dieter fled back to the Indian reservation?"

"Since he knows the reason, it proves he knows about the tax evasion law, and we also gave him a warning at the reserve police the day before yesterday. So, subjectively, this is an act of tax evasion, and there's no doubt about that!"

David's words are also reasonable.

With the Dieter case causing such a stir, and Dieter running back to the reservation, doesn't Twen, as his father, know that his son's conflict with the IRS stemmed from his refusal to pay taxes?

Since Twen knew about it, and the IRS had given him a warning beforehand, it's safe to say that he was subjectively evading taxes.

David added, "Your Honor, on page 2 of document 6, there is detailed information regarding Mr. Twen's illicit gains..."

Chiesa immediately opened the document, reviewed it for a few minutes, then turned to Tyron and asked, "Defense attorney, is there anything to add?"

Tyrone's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, but he ultimately didn't dwell on the issue. Instead, he changed the subject, saying, "Your Honor, Dieter voluntarily returned to the reservation, and as a father, protecting his son is his duty, regardless of the crime he committed. It's only natural. According to federal law, this shouldn't be considered harboring a criminal!"

The legal system of the United States does not actually encourage such behavior of prioritizing personal relationships over righteousness.

There have been many cases in which the son committed a crime, and the father provided a lot of help to the son, but in the end the father was still acquitted.

The judge's final explanation was that the law should not supersede personal feelings. As a father, protecting his son out of love should not be criticized or punished by law.

This also demonstrates the human touch in the law!

Now, Tyronn has clearly grasped this rule and is using it to refute the charge of covering up the crime.

"Your Honor, the law should indeed not supersede sentiment, but it also depends on the specific circumstances."

"If Twen were simply protecting his son, that wouldn't be a problem. The key issue is that he secretly purchased weapons and armed young tribal warriors to fight against the IRS, almost causing our IRS to lose an Apache helicopter!"

"Such heinous behavior cannot be simply described as covering it up; it deserves to be punished!"

Hearing David's words, Chiesa nodded and looked at Tyron, saying, "Defense attorney, 'cover-up' refers to helping Dieter escape or evade IRS audits. However, Twen is arming young people to confront the IRS. This is not only cover-up, but also violent resistance to the law in order to cover up the wrongdoing. Therefore, your claim is invalid!"

"this……"

Tyron was speechless and didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Thus, with witness testimonies and physical evidence against them, the charges against the Twen father and son were essentially irrefutable and could not be refuted.

Next, Chiesa conducted a trial targeting Virginia and Iman.

With the charges against Twen and Dieter already settled, Virginia had little to refute and was soon confirmed as well.

As for Iman, because of the agreement he reached with David, he didn't need much interrogation and confessed directly.

With this, the trials of all four key members in the Dieter case have been completed.

Next, everyone's hearts were on edge, because they knew that the climax of the trial was about to arrive!

(End of this chapter)