Court won’t consider MMA tax-cheat case

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider the case of two Maine Maritime Academy graduates caught up in a state crackdown on alleged tax cheats.

At sea for months at a time, Michael Falcone and James Jannetti were indicted for failing to pay income taxes and tax evasion from 1997 to 2002.

Their attorneys say the state’s definition of “domicile” is unconstitutionally vague and therefore cannot be the basis for criminal charges.

Falcone of Bridgton and Jannetti of Old Orchard Beach were among more than two dozen people targeted for prosecution when the state subpoenaed records of the Maine Maritime Academy alumni association.

A divided Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled in July that although the undefined term “domicile” may be a “somewhat elusive concept,” it is not unconstitutionally vague when read in the context of the tax code and two centuries of usage.

The 4-3 ruling allowed the state to move forward with its case against Falcone, a civilian ship’s officer aboard a U.S. Navy vessel, and Jannetti, who captains an American flag merchant ship.

Thimi Mina, the Portland attorney who represents the two men, said the Supreme Court’s decision not to take up the case came as no surprise.

“The odds were very long against it,” he said.

Mina declined to comment on any settlement discussions with prosecutors and said it was unclear as to when the cases might go to trial.

A message for Assistant Attorney General William Baghdoyan, who argued the state’s case before the Supreme Judicial Court, was not immediately returned.

Many of the other Maine Maritime graduates charged with evading taxes accepted plea agreements. As of three years ago, the state had collected a total of more than $1.38 million in restitution.

Overall, a few hundred domicile-related cases have been at issue in Maine over the past five years or so, Jerome Gerard, acting executive director of Maine Revenue Services, said earlier this year.

The cases involve a total of “perhaps a few million dollars” on a revenue base of $1.2 billion. “We’re not talking about a very large subgroup of the population,” Gerard said.

The case is Falcone and Jannetti v. state of Maine, 06-573.