U.S. v. Warner

Dist. Ct. did not err in sentencing defendant to 2 years’ probation, with 500 hours of community service, in addition to requiring defendant to pay restitution of $5,594,877 and $53.6 million civil penalty on charge of tax evasion, even though govt. insisted that defendant serve some incarceration time. While applicable Sentencing Guideline recommended 46-to-56-month term of incarceration, there was no requirement that defendant serve any prison time for his offense, and govt. had already recommended below-Guideline sentence of one year and one day. Moreover, Dist. Ct. adequately explained why probation, as opposed to term of incarceration, was appropriate given defendant’s record of charity and benevolence, and given imposition of large civil fine that was roughly ten times size of tax loss.