United States v. Lawrence Sarsoun

HARLINGTON WOOD Jr., Circuit Judge.

Defendant Lawrence Sarsoun was convicted following a bench trial of eight counts of tax evasion, failure to file income tax returns, and filing a false withholding statement, in violation of 26 U.S.C. §§ 7201, 7203 and 7205. Sarsoun, who appeared pro se at trial, claims on appeal that he was denied his sixth amendment right to the assistance of counsel. The district court denied Sarsoun’s request for appointment of counsel because the defendant failed to demonstrate that he was unable to afford private counsel. We affirm.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Sarsoun appeared…