Opinion
20-1306
02-03-2022
SAMUEL WEGBREIT and ELIZABETH J. WEGBREIT, Petitioners-Appellants, v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent-Appellee.
NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION
Appeal from the United States Tax Court. No. 7109-13 Mary Ann Cohen, Judge.
Before DIANE S. SYKES, Chief Judge MICHAEL B. BRENNAN, Circuit Judge AMY J. ST. EVE, Circuit Judge
ORDER
In our opinion of December 29, 2021, we held that this tax appeal is "utterly frivolous" and ordered Attorney John E. Rogers, counsel for the appellants, to show cause why he should not be sanctioned under Rule 38 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. Wegbreit v. Comm'r, 21 F.4th 959, 964 (7th Cir. 2021). His response rehashes the arguments we already rejected and raises some new ones.
Our conclusion has not changed. And we again note that Rogers was previously warned about the consequences of filing frivolous appeals. Id. (citing Sugarloaf Fund, LLC v. Comm'r, 953 F.3d 439, 441 (7th Cir. 2020)).
"The presumptive sanction for a frivolous tax appeal is $5,000." Id. (citing Veal- Hill v. Comm'r, 976 F.3d 775 (7th Cir. 2020) (per curiam)). We therefore impose a sanction against Rogers in the amount of $5,000 to be paid to the clerk of this court within 14 days. Failure to comply will result in the imposition of a filing bar under In re Maurice, 69 F.3d 830, 835 (7th Cir. 1995), and Support Systems International, Inc. v. Mack, 45 F.3d 185, 186 (7th Cir. 1995).
SANCTION IMPOSED