Concord, NH. A team of Nixon Peabody attorneys today secured an acquittal for a former captain with the Salem, New Hampshire, Police Department who had been charged with filing a false income tax return.
The acquittal followed a jury trial before the U.S. District Court in Concord, New Hampshire. Former police captain Michael Wagner was originally indicted in Boston in July 2020 for allegedly making a false statement in his 2013 income tax return. Nixon Peabody attorneys moved to have the case transferred to New Hampshire, where Mr. Wagner is a resident.
At trial, the jury found Mr. Wagner not guilty of the criminal tax charge, validating the defense’s central theme that the Internal Revenue Service investigation was disordered and unfairly targeted the defendant because he was a police officer.
“The IRS, ATF, and the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office were not on a search for the truth,” said Nixon Peabody Government Investigations & White-Collar Defense partner Mark Lytle, a former federal prosecutor who served as lead attorney on Mr. Wagner’s trial team. “The tax fraud charges were not supported by the evidence, and we are grateful for the jury’s decision.”
In addition to Lytle, the Nixon Peabody trial team included partner Mark Knights and paralegal Caroline Taylor. The team was assisted by partner David Vicinanzo, counsel Kierstan Schultz, associates Robert McManigal, and Allison Regan, senior e-discovery specialists Alex Dudovtsov, Jeff Jarrett, and Anthony Vescova; e-discovery specialists Tom Lindsey and Bill Masterson; and Christopher Wajda of Black Raven Advisory Group.
The case is United States of America v. Michael J. Wagner, United States District Court, District of New Hampshire, Case No. 1:20-CR-105-LM.
