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sign the amended return, or risk having his wife face a longer
sentence in a more unpleasant facility. On March 19, 2001, David
signed the amended return.
That return included as taxable income the nearly $40,000
that Rosalee had embezzled in 1999. It also showed an increase
in tax of over $16,000. When David signed the amended return, he
knew that neither he nor his wife expected to be able to pay the
increased tax. Wiesner, however, suggested that David himself
might avoid liability for the extra tax by filing for innocent
spouse relief under section 6015. He even filled out the
required IRS form and had David sign it together with the amended
return. The Billingses sent that form to the IRS, but it was
never processed.
As the Billingses feared, Rosalee's embezzlement led to a
criminal charge--one count of wire fraud. Less than a month
later, in November 2001, she pleaded guilty. Her sentence
apparently reflected a downward departure for acceptance of
responsibility, though the probation officer who wrote the
sentencing report did not mention that the Billingses had filed
an amended return.3
3 David argues that it was filing the amended return that
led Rosalee to be sentenced to less than a year, which qualified
her for residence in a halfway house rather than imprisonment.
Although filing the amended return may well be one form of
accepting responsibility, we found nothing in sentencing
guideline precedents that suggests it was the only or most
(continued...)
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