United States v. Olbres

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

In 1989, an employee of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) noticed a Rolls Royce belonging to the defendants, Anthony and Shirley Olbres, parked outside a restaurant in Exeter, New Hampshire. The presence of so opulent a vehicle in so bucolic a setting piqued the taxman’s interest. He initiated an investigation that led, in succession, to an audit, an indictment, a trial, and a conviction for income tax evasion pursuant to a jury verdict. 1 The district court then trumped the jury’s verdict, granting the defendants’ motions for judgments of acquittal. See United States v.…