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TUCSON — Former Buena High social studies teacher and diving coach Phillip Cerami was sentenced Thursday in the U.S. District Court under an agreement that allowed him to plead guilty to a single count of failure to file income taxes, a misdemeanor.
Brian Watson, a special agent with the criminal investigation division of the U. S. Department of the Treasury, was present for the sentencing.
“He got five years probation, no jail time, and has to pay the tax liabilities plus interest and penalties,” Watson said Thursday. “It must be all paid in the five years before the probation expires. If not, the judge can revoke probation. He was emphatic about that.”
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The total amount Cerami currently owes was calculated at $34,654.64. He has been in the process of making restitution, and must file future tax returns in a timely and honest manner.
Another condition imposed by federal Judge David C. Bury is that Cerami may not make any large purchases while he still owes money to the government.
According to Watson, the judge told Cerami that he recently sentenced an elderly, diabetic man in a wheelchair to five years in jail for promoting and selling materials that tell people not to pay their income taxes.
Prior to sentencing, the court had ordered Cerami to write a letter to the editor of the Herald/Review recanting his previous views that federal income taxes are unconstitutional. The letter was published on Dec. 10, and said, in part, “I discovered personally that the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice will use criminal prosecution, financial penalties and incarceration to ensure compliance with the tax code. … So, to avoid any problems, file your return.”
In court, Watson said Cerami was respectful and addressed the bench, declaring himself apologetic and expressing the hope that no one got hurt from anything he said. At a hearing in May, Cerami told the judge he realized he had made some bad decisions.
While a teacher at Buena, Cerami had been officially warned against telling students in his classes that the U.S. Constitution did not require natural born citizens to pay income taxes.
Cerami was arrested in April 2005 and originally indicted on four misdemeanor counts of failure to file income tax returns for 1998 through 2001. With a conviction, punishment of a year in jail and fines up to $25,000 on each count are possible under federal sentencing guidelines.
He originally pleaded not guilty, and a trial date was set for Nov. 15, 2005.
In October 2005, the Sierra Vista school board, which had placed him on administrative leave, voted to give Cerami a 30-days notice of impending dismissal, based on a recommendation from Superintendent Renae Humburg accusing him of insubordination, inappropriate and unprofessional attitude toward students, and sexual harassment of a female student due to a suggestive screen saver of young women in bikinis on his school computer.
The district ultimately allowed Cerami to resign with a settlement that paid him through Dec. 31, 2005, and for unused sick time. The district also filed allegations of unprofessional conduct with the Arizona Department of Education.
Several weeks before the trial date, Cerami agreed to plead guilty to a single count of failure to file a return for 1998. He was originally scheduled for sentencing last January, but a series of motions, delays and continuances — as well as determining his true tax liabilities, penalties and interest — over most of this year finally resulted in Thursday’s adjudication.
“He had a right to a trial, but he chose to plead guilty,” Watson said. “Five years is a lot longer than normal probation. The judge said that if he let Cerami off without paying, it’s not fair to the majority of honest citizens who do pay their taxes. He believes in deterrence.”
In a telephone message returned to the Herald/Review, Cerami’s attorney, Joel Parris, a federal public defender, said, “The sentence of probation is entirely appropriate. He’s one of thousands if not tens of thousands of citizens who are unwittingly duped into failing to recognize their obligation to pay taxes.”
Parris said there are widespread books, videos and Web sites where people make money telling other people not to pay their taxes.
“I’m sure dozens of people in Sierra Vista have made the same mistake and not been punished,” Parris said.
An attempt to contact Cerami by telephone on Thursday was unsuccessful.
HERALD/REVIEW reporter Cindy Skalsky can be reached at 515-4611 or by e-mail at cindy.skalsky@svherald.com.
Joe Hicks wrote on Oct 8, 2007 2:22 PM: