AUGUST TERM 2023

ARGUED: SEPTEMBER 21, 2023 DECIDED: MARCH 15, 2024

No. 22-2090

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellee,

v.

ARIEL JIMENEZ, AKA SEALED DEFENDANT Defendant-Appellant,

v.

IRELINE NUNEZ, ANA YESSENIA JIMENEZ, EVELIN JIMENEZ, LEYVI CASTILLO, CINTHIA FEDERO, GUILLERMO ARIAS MONCION, MARCOS DE JESUS PANTALEON, AKA JUNIOR, JOSE CASTILLO, AKA JAIRO, Defendants. ________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. ________ Before: WALKER, CHIN, AND NATHAN, Circuit Judges. ________ No. 22-2090

Defendant-Appellant Ariel Jimenez was convicted following a jury trial of conspiracy to defraud the United States with respect to tax-return claims, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. On appeal, Jimenez argues that (1) the district court’s jury instruction regarding withdrawal from a conspiracy was erroneous, and (2) the evidence supporting his conspiracy convictions was insufficient. For the reasons explained below, we AFFIRM the judgment of conviction.

________

CRAIG A. WENNER (John T. Zach, on the brief), Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, New York, NY, for Defendant- Appellant Ariel Jimenez.

DANIEL G. NESSIM (Ni Qian, Olga I. Zverovich, on the brief), Assistant United States Attorneys, for Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, New York, NY, for Appellee the United States of America. ________ JOHN M. WALKER, JR., Circuit Judge:

Defendant-Appellant Ariel Jimenez was convicted following a jury trial of conspiracy to defraud the United States with respect to tax-return claims, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. On appeal, Jimenez argues that (1) the district court’s jury instruction regarding withdrawal from a conspiracy was erroneous, and (2) the evidence supporting his conspiracy convictions was insufficient. For the reasons explained below, we AFFIRM the judgment of conviction.

2 No. 22-2090

BACKGROUND

Defendant-Appellant Ariel Jimenez owned and operated a tax preparation business in the Bronx, which assisted individuals with filing tax returns. The evidence at trial, taken in the light most favorable to the government (as we must do on this appeal), revealed that between 2009 and 2015, Jimenez spearheaded a large-scale tax fraud and identity theft scheme. Jimenez and his employees purchased stolen identities of children and sold them to clients, who claimed the children as false dependents on their tax returns to receive valuable tax benefits. Through this scheme, Jimenez obtained millions of dollars, some of which he laundered by structuring bank deposits, investing in real estate properties, and then transferring the properties to his parents and limited liability companies.

On September 9, 2021, the government filed a superseding indictment charging Jimenez with conspiracy to defraud the United States by obtaining the payment of a false claim, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 286 (Count One); conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349 (Count Two); aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1)&(b) and (2) (Count Three); an