## Facts

- Carlo J. Marinello II owned and operated a small freight business in western New York.
- Over many years, he paid employees in cash, used business funds for personal expenses, failed to maintain complete records, and failed to file certain corporate and personal tax returns.
- The IRS conducted intermittent investigative activity concerning his tax conduct between 2004 and 2009.
- In 2012, a grand jury indicted Marinello on multiple tax counts, including felony obstruction under the Omnibus Clause of 26 U.S.C. § 7212(a).
- The trial court instructed the jury it could convict under § 7212(a) if Marinello “corruptly” committed certain acts (including recordkeeping failures and document destruction), without requiring findings about awareness of, or intent to interfere with, a specific IRS audit or investigation.
- The jury convicted Marinello on all counts, including the § 7212(a) count.

## Issues

1. Whether conviction under 26 U.S.C. § 7212(a)’s Omnibus Clause requires proof of a nexus between the defendant’s conduct and a particular IRS proceeding (such as an audit or investigation).
2. Whether the Government must prove the proceeding was pending or reasonably foreseeable and that the defendant knew of it (or could reasonably foresee it) and intended to corruptly interfere with it.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court reversed the judgment affirming the § 7212(a) obstruction conviction and remanded.
- The Court held the Omnibus Clause does not reach obstruction of routine, day-to-day IRS administration applicable to all taxpayers.
- To obtain a conviction, the Government must prove a nexus between the defendant’s conduct and a specific, targeted administrative action (e.g., an audit or investigation).
- The Government must also show the targeted proceeding was pending or reasonably foreseeable and that the defendant knew of it (or could reasonably foresee it) and acted with corrupt intent to obstruct it.
- Because the jury instructions did not require these findings, the § 7212(a) conviction could not stand.

## Legal Principles

- The Omnibus Clause of 26 U.S.C. § 7212(a) is limited to obstructive conduct connected to discrete, targeted IRS proceedings, not generalized interference with the administration of the tax laws.
- A “nexus” is required: the obstructive act must relate in time, causation, or logic to a particular tax-related proceeding (such as an audit or investigation).
- The Government must prove the proceeding was pending or reasonably foreseeable and that the defendant was aware of it (or could reasonably foresee it) and intended to corruptly impede it.
- Narrow constructions of federal criminal statutes may be required to avoid fair-notice problems and excessive prosecutorial discretion that would result from treating routine tax violations as felonious obstruction.

## Conclusion

The Court held that § 7212(a)’s Omnibus Clause requires a nexus to a specific IRS proceeding that is pending or reasonably foreseeable and known (or reasonably foreseeable) to the defendant, and it set aside Marinello’s obstruction conviction because the jury was not instructed to find those elements.


Marinello v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 1101 (2018)