CHICAGO _ A federal judge on Thursday convicted former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds, D-Ill., on all four counts alleging he failed to file a federal income tax return for four consecutive years.
The two-time convicted felon faces up to four years in prison, but the convictions are misdemeanors, not felonies.
Prosecutors alleged Reynolds, 65, hid more than $400,000 in income from the Internal Revenue Service from 2009 to 2012 that he'd collected for consulting work he did in Africa on behalf of two prominent Chicago businessmen. Reynolds has argued the money was for travel and other expenses, not income, and therefore did not need to be reported to the IRS.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman came after Reynolds and prosecutors exchanged closing arguments earlier Thursday.
While Reynolds remained composed during the four-day trial and managed to score some points on cross-examination, his decision not to testify in his own defense or call any witnesses left him hamstrung during his closing remarks because he was not allowed to argue facts not in evidence.
Mel Reynolds opts not to take witness stand at his misdemeanor tax trial
During his 45-minute closing argument, Reynolds tried to detail those expenditures, telling Gettleman he "traveled over 400,000 miles" and often worked seven days a week. The judge, however, sustained an objection by Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas, telling Reynolds there was no evidence brought out at trial attesting to his travel expenses.
"Perhaps if I had testified," Reynolds said with a laugh.
"I'm not going to hold it against you that you exercised your Fifth Amendment rights," the judge replied.
In her closing remarks, Assistant U.S. Attorney Georgia Alexakis said that as a self-employed consultant, Reynolds clearly knew that it was his duty to file a tax return itemizing his income and expenses, regardless of how much of it was actual profit. She showed the judge check after check that was cut to Reynolds during the four-year period, saying Reynolds' argument that all of the money was used for expenses made no sense.
"Why would (Reynolds) agree to perform services without compensation for his time, his expertise?" Alexakis said. "There is simply no way he didn't understand."
According to evidence presented in the trial, Reynolds collected nearly half a million dollars from 2009 to 2012 through his deals with clout-heavy developer Elzie Higginbottom and businessman Willie Wilson, who owns a suburban medical supplies company. During that time, Reynolds also performed consulting work for a south suburban church and a Chicago organization formed in 2009 to attract U.S. businesses to invest in Zimbabwe.
In testimony Monday, Wilson said he was introduced to Reynolds in 2009 by U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill. Wilson said he agreed to hire Reynolds to push officials in Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe's regime to purchase first-aid kits, disposable gloves and other medical supplies manufactured by Wilson's company.
Wilson said he never asked Reynolds for an itemized bill for his services but assumed the money included his consulting fees. When asked by prosecutors why one particular check in 2009 was for $7,000, Wilson replied, "That's what he asked for, and we trusted him to know what he was doing."
The mostly dry trial digressed into allegations of large-scale international bribery on Tuesday as Reynolds accused Higginbottom of paying kickbacks to Mugabe in the hopes of starting a lucrative diamond mine operation.
Higginbottom testified he partnered with Reynolds in 2009 on a venture seeking business in Zimbabwe and agreed to pay him $10,000 a month for his consulting services. Under questioning by prosecutors, Higginbottom said he pulled the plug on the operation in 2012 after Reynolds managed to make only one deal _ a contract to sell latex gloves to Zimbabwe hospitals that ultimately lost more than $100,000.
But in a lengthy cross-examination, Reynolds accused Higginbottom of using the company they formed, Sub-Sahara LLC, to funnel bribes to members of Mugabe's regime in order to start a diamond mine operation in that country. Reynolds also asked questions about a check for $100,000 that Higginbottom reportedly sent to a close associate of Mugabe's from the Sub-Sahara account.
Higginbottom, who has not been charged with any wrongdoing, flatly denied the allegations.
