United States v. Gricco

Gricco and McCardell (defendants) worked for companies that operated airport parking facilities. Gricco and McCardell agreed to steal money from the companies by having cashiers replace parking tickets that reflected the real date and time of issuance with tickets that reflected shorter parking times. Gricco and McCardell then pocketed the difference between the higher parking fees actually paid by customers and the lower amounts reflected on the replacement tickets. Gricco and McCardell did not report their income from this scheme on their federal income tax returns. Gricco and McCardell were indicted and convicted after trial for conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing the lawful function of the Internal Revenue Service in the collection of federal income taxes, tax evasion, and making false federal income tax returns. There was evidence at trial that (1) none of the coconspirators reported to the IRS the income derived from the scheme; (2) Gricco structured financial transactions to avoid filing currency-transaction reports; (3) Gricco told another conspirator not to deposit amounts over $10,000 because the bank would have to file currency-transaction reports; (4) Gricco advised other participants in the scheme, including McCardell, to purchase home safes instead of depositing the criminal proceeds in the bank; and (5) the conspirators purchased home safes to avoid attracting the attention of the IRS. Gricco and McCardell were convicted and appealed their convictions, maintaining that their conspiracy convictions were not supported by sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that impeding the IRS was an agreed-upon object of the conspiracy.