American tax officials

Chapter 122 Seven-Year Imprisonment

The United States has a jury system, which is designed to prevent judges from abusing their power and to ensure that suspects receive a fair trial.

However, in IRS courts, there is no jury to ensure the IRS's power remains unchecked.

Therefore, after briefly summarizing the situation, Chiesa stood up.

Those invited to listen in also stood up in unison.

Chiesa declared: "The defendant, Dieter, is guilty of attempted assault on IRS personnel, fleeing the scene of a crime, and tax evasion, involving a substantial amount of money. He is hereby sentenced to confiscation of all funds to be turned over to the tax treasury, and also to 1000 years imprisonment without parole!"

Upon hearing the verdict, most people present showed shock, especially Gar and the other Native Americans who had been invited.

They knew that Dieter might be sentenced to death and probably never get out, but they never expected that he would be sentenced to 1000 years in prison.

How long can a person live?

100 years old is the maximum, right?

But now he's been sentenced to 1000 years. Even if he had 10 lives, it wouldn't be enough to serve that long in prison.

Meanwhile, William, Arabella, and even David, among other IRS staff, did not show any particular surprise.

Sentenced to thousands of years in prison, which seems outrageous in other countries, is quite normal in the United States.

Let alone thousands of years, there have been criminals who were sentenced to tens of thousands of years in prison.

The reason is simple: the United States has a "combination law".

As the name suggests, once a suspect is convicted, the prison sentences for the various crimes can be accumulated and added together.

As for how many years it will accumulate, it basically depends entirely on the judge's will.

Many people may ask this question.

Humans only live for a hundred or so years at most. To sentence someone to a thousand or ten thousand years is just a pointless attempt to grab attention.

This is not the case.

The purpose of imprisonment for thousands of years was to serve as a deterrent. The deterrent effect refers to the fear and vigilance of potential criminals by imposing severe punishments on them, thereby preventing or reducing crime. The goal of this was to maintain social order and security.

The IRS continues to use this penalty for the same purpose: to deter those who dare to oppose the IRS and make them understand that the IRS will definitely make them spend their lives in jail if they dare to evade taxes or oppose the IRS!

"No, 1000 years? Are you fucking kidding me? I don't accept this verdict! I'm going to appeal!!!"

Over here, Dieter was stunned for a long time after hearing that he had been sentenced to 1000 years. Only now did he finally react and roared wildly.

Tyrone, unable to remain seated, stood up and retorted, "Your Honor, isn't a 1000-year sentence a bit too harsh? Even the Department of Justice would find it difficult to use such a punishment against the most heinous criminals, wouldn't it?"

Chiesa glanced at him and replied dismissively, "You need to understand, this court is not under the Department of Justice. Besides, Dieter is suspected of tax evasion and assassinating an IRS officer. Isn't that more serious than the most heinous crimes?"

"this……"

Tyronn was speechless once again.

Yes, this is the IRS courtroom, so they don't have to worry about the Department of Justice.

Dieter did indeed cross the line with the IRS, so being sentenced to such an extreme punishment seems justifiable.

"I disagree! A 1000-year sentence is an abuse of private messaging! I demand an appeal! I demand an appeal to the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C..."

Seeing Dieter still struggling in his death throes, Chiesa impatiently waved to the inspectors, signaling them to drag him away immediately.

As Dieter was dragged away, the courtroom fell silent once again.

But if anyone were to look over the judge's bench at that moment, they would see that Twen and Virginia were not only deathly pale, but their legs were also trembling uncontrollably.

Dieter's sentence has now been handed down: 1000 years in prison.

And how light can those two be?

The thought of the upcoming verdict left both of them feeling somewhat devastated.

Ignoring their thoughts, Chiesa continued pronouncing the verdict: "Defendant Twen is found guilty of armed resistance against the IRS, of harboring a criminal, and of tax evasion. He is sentenced to 1000 years imprisonment without parole!"

When the verdict was announced, many people in the audience gasped in shock.

Meanwhile, Gar and his entourage, who had been invited, were secretly relieved that they had changed their tune quickly yesterday and immediately submitted to the IRS.

Otherwise, if the resistance continues, they might be the ones on trial today, sentenced to 1000 years in prison!

On the judge's bench, Twen, who was already on the verge of a mental breakdown, froze as if under a spell after hearing that he too had been sentenced to 1000 years. His eyes were vacant as he stared blankly ahead.

About 30 seconds later, he suddenly came to his senses and, like Dieter before him, let out a defiant roar: "I refuse to accept this! Although I armed the tribe's youths, I didn't cause any casualties or losses to the IRS. Why should I be sentenced to 1000 years!"

Chiesa gave him another dismissive look and replied, "You're lucky you didn't cause any real damage to the IRS, otherwise it wouldn't just be a matter of 1000 years!"

"you……"

Twen was furious, then he suddenly turned around as if searching for someone in the room, finally fixing his gaze on Strong, and shouted, "Congressman Strong, this is an unfair ruling, I cannot accept it! As a member of Congress, are you just going to stand by and watch this IRS judge abuse his power against me like this?"

Strong was startled when his name was called out; a thousand curses ran through his mind.

He was terrified that David and the IRS would find out about him, and that damned Twen just called him out in public.

Is he afraid that others won't know about his relationship with Native American tribes?

Seeing the strange looks from the crowd, Strong was both angry and anxious, and immediately retorted, "Although I am a member of parliament, judicial matters are not my responsibility, and since we are in court, I have even less right to intervene!"

The underlying meaning of his words is, "Stop talking nonsense and just accept your judgment!"

Upon hearing this, Twen became enraged and roared, "Strong, you've taken so many benefits from our tribe, and now you're just standing by and watching us die! I'm reporting you; he's evaded taxes too!"

These words immediately caused an uproar at the scene.

Strong nearly had a heart attack from anger, and immediately retorted loudly, "Twin, I'm warning you not to talk nonsense! I haven't taken any benefits from your tribe; this is slander!"

"Twin, don't spout nonsense and slander Congressman Strong. Congressman Strong only visited our tribe a few times. We gave him some cured meat, tea, and other local specialties as a token of hospitality. What kind of favor is that?"

Garr couldn't sit still any longer and stepped forward to explain.

Now that the Twen father and son are going to jail, and Strong is still a senator, there's no need for him to offend the senator for the sake of a few people he can't save.

"That's right, exactly!"

Garr's explanation finally put Strong, who was both angry and anxious, at ease.

Fortunately, there were no media reporters present.

The people here are either from the city hall, the city council, or some well-known figures in Las Vegas. With his connections, he should be able to handle it.

If the media were here, given their ability to fabricate stories and exaggerate facts, he would be in big trouble.

"Bang bang bang!!!"

Seeing that the scene had turned into a complete mess, Chiesa on the stage immediately struck his gavel heavily again.

To prevent the scene from escalating, he quickly ordered the inspectors to drag Twen away as well, and the scene returned to calm.

Chiesa reiterated the verdict: "The defendant, Virginia, is guilty of attempted assault of IRS personnel, guilty of fleeing the scene of a crime, and guilty of tax evasion. For these multiple offenses, she is sentenced to 800 years imprisonment without parole!"

With the previous two sentences of 1000 years, few people were surprised by this 800-year sentence.

As for Virginia, although her face turned pale upon hearing the verdict, she knew that protesting in the IRS court and under the judge's orders was futile, and she could only accept her defeat with a deathly expression.

Chiesa looked at Iman, the last defendant, and announced the verdict: "Defendant Iman, found guilty of attempted assault on IRS personnel and tax evasion, but due to his cooperation with the IRS investigation, he is hereby sentenced to seven years in prison!"

"As for the witnesses, they were all released without charge because they cooperated extremely well with the IRS investigation!"

The previous sentences were for 1000 years, 1000 years, and 800 years. Suddenly hearing a sentence of only 7 years caused such a huge sense of disparity that many people in the audience were stunned for a moment.

However, they quickly realized that Iman must have reached an agreement with the IRS beforehand when he filed the complaint, which is why he received such a lenient sentence.

This led many people present to secretly make a decision.

That means if they ever get targeted by the IRS, they must cooperate fully in order to receive the lightest possible penalty!

In the dock, when he heard that, as agreed, his sentence was only seven years, Iman gave David a grateful look.

On the witness stand, Baldwin and the other two were in the same situation.

Logically speaking, since David was forcing them to pay taxes and threatening them to testify against Dieter, they should hate David.

But after seeing that the Dieter father and son and Virginia were sentenced to 1000 and 800 years respectively, they suddenly felt incredibly fortunate.

Fortunately, they came forward to testify against Dieter, and fortunately, David gave them the opportunity for a not-guilty plea; otherwise, their fate would probably not have been much better than that of the father and son!

"Alright, this court hearing is adjourned!"

As Chiesa finished speaking, the invited guests rose and left with lingering fear in their eyes.

Arabella, William, and David, the IRS personnel, stepped forward one by one to shake hands with Judge Chiesa, congratulating him on the successful conclusion of the trial.

Then, Arabella approached David and asked, "Tax Chief David, may I ask you something?"

"What is it, Chief Arabella?"

Arabella lowered her voice and asked, "Have you investigated Congressman Strong?"

Earlier in the lobby, he had sensed something fishy from the conversation between David and Strong, but he wasn't sure yet.

Just now, when Twen publicly exposed him, although Gar stepped forward to explain, he still keenly sensed that Strong might really be up to something!

"That's a member of parliament, how could I dare to investigate him casually? But if you, Director Arabella, authorize it, then I can give it a try..."

David, still not understanding the meaning of the city bureau chief in front of him, certainly dared not say that he had information on Strong's tax evasion.

After all, a congressman is not someone like Gray, or Dieter, or even the Omaha family—these small fry cannot compare to him.

Their political influence and the powerful groups behind them are enormous.

David is just a tax chief right now, so he can't do anything too risky unless someone vouches for him!

Arabella pondered for a moment, then smiled and replied, "I was just asking out of curiosity. Although the trial is over, I think you still have a lot of work to do, so you should go back now!"

David understood what the city bureau chief meant, and without saying anything more, he turned and left.

He does have a lot of things to take care of when he gets back. For example, now that the case is closed, it's time to deposit the taxes!

Thank you so much for the generous donation, Brother Buddha!

(End of this chapter)