Pubdate: Tue, 28 Mar 2006
Source: Des Moines Register (IA)
Copyright: 2006 The Des Moines Register.
Contact:  http://desmoinesregister.com/index.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/123
Author: Jeff Eckhoff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

D.M. MAN FIGHTS $181,677 BILL FOR DRUG TAXES

Luis Flores was given probation for aiding and abetting, but now 
faces the loss of his home.

A Des Moines man who served as the lookout while a relative collected 
more than 40 pounds of marijuana from a shipping business fears that 
he will lose his home over unpaid taxes on drugs he never saw.

Luis R. Flores, 40, has cleared probation and will walk away with no 
criminal record from a favor he did for his cousin, Felix Calderon, 
in July 2004.

But Flores still faces a $181,677 bill from the Iowa Department of 
Revenue under a law that requires dealers to pay taxes on illegal drugs.

State tax officials, who refuse to discuss Flores' case in detail, 
say Iowa law requires him to post a bond if he wants to fight the bill.

Flores' attorney, Eric Parrish, calls that unfair. He's asked a judge 
to declare the tax excessive and to bar any further collection efforts.

"This is just unbelievable," Parrish said after a hearing Monday.

Polk County court papers allege that Flores went with his cousin to 
pick up five boxes at Overnight Delivery in Des Moines.

Narcotics officers arrested Flores as he sat in a pickup truck. He 
had been talking via cell phone to Calderon, who apparently was 
concerned that a parked car might belong to police.

Flores pleaded guilty in November 2004 of "aiding and abetting 
another in possessing a controlled substance" and was put on probation.

Two months later, the Iowa Court of Appeals shot down a police effort 
to seize Flores' truck, a pistol and $2,700 in cash. The appeals 
judges ruled that Flores "played a comparatively minor role" in the 
drug scheme and therefore didn't deserve to lose his $30,000 truck.

A month later, a Revenue Department official filed papers to collect 
$90,605 in drug-stamp taxes, plus another $90,605 as a penalty and 
$467 in assorted fees.

State law requires Iowans who "possess, distribute or offer to sell" 
illegal drugs to buy tax stamps if the substances aren't already 
stamped. For processed marijuana, the rate comes to $5 per gram.

Valencia Voyd McCown, an assistant Iowa attorney general representing 
the Revenue Department, said state law authorizes tax collectors to 
file liens, garnish wages or seize property to satisfy the unpaid debt.

"But if other routes are pursued," such as a payment plan, "it does 
not have to happen," she said.

Judge Joel Novak is expected to rule next month on whether Flores 
deserves a reprieve from collections or whether he first must plead 
his case in a Revenue Department appeals process.

Parrish contends state officials have dragged their feet. He also 
said he finds the timing suspicious, since tax officials didn't move 
to collect until after police lost their attempt to seize Flores' truck.

"I find it hard to believe that there was not some interplay between 
the Polk County attorney's office and the Department of Revenue," 
Parrish said. "I think, at some point, we will get to the root of how 
this happened."

McCown said she wasn't even aware of efforts to take the truck until last month.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman