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Even creepy stalkers have to pay their taxes

December 02, 2008

Unrequited stalky-love and tax evasion are two bad ideas that get worse together. At least that's one lesson you can draw from U.S. v. Stierhoff, a 1st Circuit Federal tax case issued yesterday.

Mr. Stierhoff's troubles began when he went a-courting:

In March of 2002, a young woman contacted the Rhode Island State Police and complained about a stalker. She told the troopers that the man had approached her at work, given her unwanted cards and poems, and left poetic messages on her windshield while her car was parked in a dormitory parking lot at Rhode Island College. The troopers traced the suspected stalker through his license plate number and identified him as Neil Stierhoff (the defendant herein).
Between April 4 and April 12, 2002, the troopers conducted a surveillance that tended to confirm their suspicions about the defendant's obsession with the complainant. They then devised a sting operation that played out on the night of April 12. The sting worked, and the troopers arrested the defendant on the spot.

Things went downhill rapidly. The stalker suspect consented to a search of his apartment:

The troopers found a treasure trove of interesting items. These items included the computer on which the defendant had composed the poems, greeting cards similar to those delivered to the complainant, a briefcase containing $100,000 in cash, another $40,000 in cash lodged in a desk drawer, and a myriad of financial documents. The troopers proceeded to make inquiries about the cash and a bank statement.
We need not linger over the details of the interrogation. It suffices to say that the troopers concluded that the defendant had been operating a highly lucrative business featuring the sale of used electronic equipment over the internet. When they noticed that the aforementioned bank statement bore the name "Joseph Adams," the defendant explained that he used that pseudonym in conducting this business. As to the large sums of cash on hand, he ventured that he neither trusted banks nor paid any taxes (federal or state).

He would have been wise to have consulted a lawyer; counsel would have probably suggested he keep that last bit of information to himself. Mr. Stierhoff was convicted of the stalking charges, and the troopers got the IRS involved. This eventually led to a tax evasion sentence of around 46 months in prison.

The Moral? When a girl doesn't want to date you, move on. If you must obsess, at least get a good tax preparer first.

Tags: tax crime.