Developer Loses Appeal Over 38-Month Sentence for Tax Evasion

A Michigan real estate developer who pleaded guilty to tax evasion lost an appeal over his 38-month prison sentence, after the Sixth Circuit rejected challenges to the district court’s loss calculation and decision to apply a sophisticated means enhancement.

Scott Chappelle argued that $74,075 in unpaid taxes associated with one of his companies, Terra Holdings, shouldn’t have been included in his tax loss and that the district court failed to find that the unpaid taxes constituted relevant conduct before including them.

Because Chappelle failed to object on those gounds at sentencing, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ...