United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

FILED June 9, 2023 No. 20-30323 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk

United States of America,

Plaintiff—Appellee,

versus

Peter M. Hoffman,

Defendant—Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana USDC No. 2:14-CR-22-1

Before Richman, Chief Judge, and Jolly and Dennis, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam: The panel does not agree on the judgment that should be rendered in this case. Judge Jolly would affirm the district court’s judgment in its entirety. Chief Judge Richman would dismiss the appeal, concluding the notice of appeal was not timely. Judge Dennis would remand for an evidentiary hearing and resentencing. The net effect is that the sentence imposed by the district court stands, and the case is not remanded to the district court. The district court’s judgment is AFFIRMED by an equally divided court. Case: 20-30323 Document: 00516780349 Page: 2 Date Filed: 06/09/2023

No. 20-30323

Judge Jolly joins fully in the following opinion. Chief Judge Richman concurs only in Part I, and files a dissenting opinion. Judge Dennis concurs only in Parts II(A) and III, and files a dissenting opinion. The opinion of a majority of the panel is reflected only in Parts I, II(A) and III of the following opinion: Peter Hoffman appeals the district court’s resentencing order, as well as the district court’s dismissal of his motion for reconsideration. I Peter Hoffman (“Hoffman”), his wife Susan Hoffman, and Michael Arata were indicted for mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Hoffman, Susan Hoffman, and Arata jointly owned Seven Arts Pictures Louisiana, LLC (Seven Arts), through which they purchased a dilapidated mansion at 807 Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans with the goal of converting it into a film postproduction facility.1 To offset the costs of the project, Seven Arts applied for film infrastructure tax credits offered by the State of Louisiana.2 The program has two steps: first, applicants must file an initial tax credit application and obtain a precertification letter from the state; second, applicants must file a report tallying their production costs, which must be audited by an independent accountant.3 The state then reviews the submitted materials and decides whether to issue the tax credits. 4 The Government alleged that Hoffman, Susan Hoffman, and Arata “submitted fraudulent claims for tax credits, mostly by (1) submitting false invoices for construction work and film equipment or (2) using “circular transactions”

1 United States v. Hoffman, 901 F.3d 523, 531 (5th Cir. 2018). 2 Id. 3 Id. at 532. 4 Id.

2 Case: 20-30323 Document: 00516780349 Page: 3 Date Filed: 06/09/2023

No. 20-30323

that made transfers of money between bank accounts look like expenditures related to movie